oFmmm 


X  i^ 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

MRS.    ALFRED  W.     I NGALLS 


THE 

BOOK  OF  WONDERS 


LLiPr)^(K]l(^  (S 


HOW   MAN   BURROWS   UNDER   THE  WATER 


HUDSON  &  MANHATTAN  R.  E 


This  is  a  picture  of  a  section  of  one  of  the  world's  greatest  tunnels,   showing  how  man   has  learned   to   construct  gre 
tubes  of  steel  beneath  the  surface  of  the  water  and  land,  in  which  to  run  the  swiftly  moving 
trains    which   carry    him    rapidly    from   place   to   place. 


THE 

BOOK  OF  WONDERS 


GIVES  PLAIN  AND  SIMPLE  ANSWERS  TO  THE 
THOUSANDS  OF  EVERYDAY  QUESTIONS 
THAT  ARE  ASKED  AND  WHICH  ALL  SHOULD 
BE   ABLE    TO,    BUT    CANNOT   ANSWER 


FULLY  ILLUSTRATED    WITH    HUNDREDS    OF  EDUCATIONAL    PICTURES 

WHICH    STIMULATE    THE    MIND    AND    GIVE    A 

BIRD'S  EYE  VIEW  OF  THE 


WONDERS  OF  NATURE 

and  the 

WONDERS    PRODUCED    BY    MAN 

Edited  and  Arranged  by 

RUDOLPH  J.   BODMER 


Fully  Indexed 


\9\i 
PRESBREY    SYNDICATE,    Inc. 

456  Fourtli  Avenue 
Ni:VV    \()\iK 


Copyright,   1914 

BY 

PRESBREY   SYNDICATE,    Ino 


Introduction 

No  truly  great  book  needs  an  explanation  of  its  aim  and  purpose.  A  great 
book  just  grows,  as  has  this  Book  of  Wonders. 

It  began  with  the  attempt  of  a  father  to  answer  the  natural  questions  of 
the  active  mind  of  a  growing  boy.  It  developed  into  a  nightly  search  for 
plain,  understandable  answers  to  such  questions  as  "What  makes  it  night?" 
"Where  does  the  VN-ind  begin?"  "Why  is  the  sky  blue?"  "Why  does  it  hurt  when 
I  cut  my  finger  ?"  "Why  doesn't  it  hurt  when  I  cut  my  hair?"  "Why  does  wood 
float?"  "Why  does  iron  sink?"  "Why  doesn't  an  iron  ship  sink?"  on  through  the 
maze  of  thousands  of  puzzling  questions  which  occur  to  the  child's  mind.  It 
has  grown  until  the  answers  to  the  mere  questions  cover  practically  the  entire 
range  of  every-day  knowledge,  and  has  been  arranged  in  such  a  form  that  any 
child  may  now  find  the  answer  to  his  own  inquiries. 

As  the  mind  of  the  child  matures,  the  questions  naturally  drift  toward 
the  things  which  the  genius  of  man  has  provided  for  his  comfort  and  pleasure. 
We  have  become  so  accustomed  to  the  use  and  benefits  of  these  wonders  pro- 
duced by  man  that  we  generally  leave  out  of  our  books  the  stories  of  our  great 
industries,  and  yet  the  mind  of  the  child  wonders  and  inquires  about  them. 
We  have  so  long  worn  clothes  made  of  wool  or  cotton,  that  we  have  forgotten 
the  wonder  there  is  in  making  a  bolt  of  cloth.  Every  industry  has  a  fascinating 
story  equal  to  that  of  the  silkworm,  which  moves  is  head  sixty-five  times  a 
minute  while  spinning  his  thousand  yards  of  silk. 

Can  you  tell  What  happens  when  we  telephone?  How  a  telegram  gets 
there?  What  makes  an  automobile  go?  How  man  learned  to  tell  time? 
How  a  moving-picture  is  made?  How  a  camera  takes  a  picture?  How  rojic 
is  made?  How  the  light  gets  into  the  electric  bulb?  How  glass  is  made? 
How  the  music  g-^ts  into  the  piano?  and  liuiKh-cds  of  others  (hat  embrace  the 
captivating  tales  of  how  man  has  made  use  of  the  wonders  of  nature  .ind 
turned  them  to  his  advantage  and  comfort?  The  Book  of  Wonders  docs  this 
with  illuminating  pictures  which  stimulate  the  mind  and  give  a  bird's-eye  view 
of  each  subject  step  by  step. 

Where  shall  such  a  book  begin?     Shall   it  begin   with   the   .Story   of   How 


10  INTRODUCTION 


Man  Learned  to  Light  a  Fire — he  could  not  cook  his  footl,  see  at  night,  or 
keep  warm  without  a  fire;  or  should  it  Ijegin  with  How  ^L-ul  Learned  to 
Shoot — he  could  not  protect  himself  against  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  and,  there- 
fore, could  not  move  about,  till  the  soil  or  obtain  food  to  cook  until  he  knew 
how  to  shoot  or  destroy. 

What  was  the  vital  thing  for  man  to  know  before  he  could  really  become 
civilizecT?  Some  means,  of  course,  by  which  the  things  he  learned — the  knowl- 
edge he  had  acquired — could  be  handed  ilown  to  those  who  came  after  him  so 
that  they  might  go  on.  with  the  intelligence  handed  down  to  them.  This 
required  some  means  of  recording  his  knowledge.  i\lan  had  to  learn  to  write. 
Without  writing  there  could  be  no  Book  of  Wonders,  and  the  l)ook,  then, 
begins  naturally  with  the  Story  of  How  Man  Learned  to  Write. 

The  Editor. 


\\Rrn.\(;    r.v    mkxrax    ixdiaxs   thought  to   be 

.MOKK    TIIAX   TF.X    THOUSAXD   YEARS   OLD. 


How   Man   Learned   to   Write 


It  is  a  long  time  between  the  day  of 
the  cave-dwellers,  with  their  instru- 
ments of  chipped  stone,  and  the  ])resent 
day  of  the  pen.  Yet  wide  a])art  as  are 
these  points  of  time,  the  trend  of  de- 
\elopment  can  with  but  few  obstacles 
be  traced. 

The  story  of  the  pen  is  a  natural 
sequence  of  ideas  between  the  first  piece 
of  rock  scratched  upon  rock  by  ])re- 
historic  man,  and  the  bit  of  metal 
which  now  so  smoothly  records  our 
thoughts. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  unwritten 
history  of  man  when  necessity 
prompter!    the    invention    of    weapons, 


and  the  minds  of  these  primitive  men 
were  concentrated  upon  this  point.  But 
the  arts  of  war  did  not  take  up  their 
entire  time ;  some  time  must  have  been 
given  to  other  pursuits.  As  the  mind 
developed,  and  as  an  aid  to  memory, 
we  find  them  carving,  engraving,  incis- 
ing U])on  the  rocks  their  hieroglyphics, 
which  took  the  form  of  figures  of  men, 
habitations,  weapons,  and  the  animals 
of   their  period. 

How  Did  Writing  First  Come  About? 

An  apparently  difficult  question  to 
answer,  since  without  writing  there  can 
be  no  record  of  its  origin,  and  without 


IMK    STVr.US 


12 


EARLIEST  WAYS  OF  WRITING 


THE    FIRST    IMITATION    OF     WRITING 


records  no  facts ;  yet  the  deduction  is 
so  clear  that  the  answer  is  simple. 
Somewhere  far,  far  back  in  the  dawn 
of  the  world,  back  in  the  beginning  of 
human  history,  in  the  epoch  which  we 
have  now  named  the  Quaternary  Pe- 
riod, man  lived  in  a  dense  wilderness 
surrounded  by  the  wildest  and  most 
ferocious  beasts.  His  home  was  a  cave, 
exposed  to  the  dangers  incidental  to 
that  time  and  his  surroundings,  and  he 
was  of  necessity  compelled  to  look 
about  for  means  of  defense.  With  this 
idea  in  mind,  he  found  that  by  striking 
one  stone  against  another  he  knocked 
off  chips,  which  chips  could  be  used  as 
arrow-heads,  spears  and  axes.  Follow- 
ing along  these  lines  he  discovered  that 
by  rubbing  one  of  these  chips  against 
another  there  was  left  a  mark,  which 
was  the  first  imitation  of  writing;  that 


the  sharper  the  edge  of  the  chip,  the 
deeper  was  the  scratch,  and  conse- 
quently the  more  distinct  the  mark. 

Next  it  was  discovered  that  certain 
slones,  such  as  flint,  ser])entine  and 
chalcedony,  marked  more  readily  than 
others ;  that  the  elongated  chip  was 
handled  with  more  facility ;  that  by  rub- 
bing one  stone  against  another  the 
f;nest  possible  points  and  edges  might 
be  obtained.  Thus  in  the  Age  of  Stone 
was  the  long,  tapering  instrument  of 
stone,  the  first  pen,  the  Stylus,  origi- 
nated. 

Then  came  the  time,  known  as  the 
Bronze  Age,  when  men  learned  to 
b.ammer  metal  into  shapes,  and  metal 
having  many  advantages  over  stone,  the 
stylus  of  stone  gave  way  to  one  of  iron. 
So  we  find  that  in  the  time  of  the 
Egyptians,    about    fourteen    or   fifteen 


WRITING  FLUIDS  HELPED  DEVELOPMENT 


w^^ 


THE   BRUSH 


HOW  THE   CHINESE  IMPROVED  METHODS 


centuries  B.C.,  an  iron  stylus  was  in  use 
for  marking  on  soapstone,  limestone 
and  waxed  surfaces.  An  improvement 
in  this  metal  stylus  was  that  the  blunt 
end  was  convex  and  smooth,  the  pur- 
pose of  which  was  to  erase  and  smooth 
over  irregularities.  In  some  cases  it  was 
pointed  with  diamonds,  which  gave  it 
greater  cutting  properties.  The  iron 
stylus  was  also  used  by  the  Egyptians 
of  that  period,  as  well  as  in  later  times, 
with  a  mallet,  after  the  manner  of  the 
modern  chisel  (which  indeed  it  resem- 
bled) for  cutting  out  inscriptions  on 
their  monuments. 

In  course  of  time  a  marking  fluid 
was  discovered,  and  this  made  neces- 
sary a  writing  instrument  which  coul<l 
spread  characters  on  parchment,  tree- 
bark,  etc.  Thus  it  was  found  that  by 
putting  together  a  small  bunch  of  hairs, 


arranging  them  in  the  shape  of  an  acute 
cone,  and  fastening  them  together  in 
some  manner,  an  instrument  could  be 
made  which  would  carry  fluid  in  its 
])ath,  and  thus  make  a  mark  of  the 
desired  shape.  The  hair  best  adapted 
for  the  purpose  was  found  to  be  camel's 
hair,  while  that  of  the  badger  and  sable 
was  also  used.  A  tube  cut  from  a  stalk 
cjf  grass  answered  for  a  holder.  The 
hairs  were  held  together  by  a  piece  of 
thread  wliich  was  then  drawn  through 
the  tube,  thus  making  the  first  writing 
instrument  to  be  used  in  conjunction 
with   ink,  the   Brush. 

Just  when  the  Brush  came  into  exist- 
ence is  not  definitely  known,  but  with 
this  instrument  the  great  Chinese  phil- 
ftso|)bcr  Confucius  wrote  his  marvelous 
philosophy.  The  Brush  as  a  writing 
iMSlrument  is  generally  associated  with 


JIUW    THE   ^rOXKS   DID    THEIR    WRITING 


tl'iC  Chinese,  because  the  Chinese  use 
this  instrument  even  to  the  present  day, 
it  being  especially  adapted  to  their  let- 
ters and  mode  of  writing.  We  have 
now  a  pen  (brush),  as  well  as  an  ink, 
but  the  material  upon  which  the  people 
of  that  age  wrote,  in  lieu  of  paper,  was 
still  very  crude,  parchment  and  tree- 
bark  being  most  commonly  used. 

Just  as  the  discovery  of  an  ink 
wrought  a  change  from  the  Stylus  to 
the  Brush,  so  the  advent  of  papyrus, 
a  paper  made  from  the  papyrus  plant, 
which  was  much  finer  and  more  eco- 
nomical than  parchment,  brought  with 
it  a  pen  better  adapted  for  this  material. 
It  was  found  that  the  Reed,  or  Calamo, 
as  it  was  called,  which  grew  on  the 
marshes  on  the  shores  of  Egypt,  Ar- 
menia and  the  Persian  Gulf,  if  cut  into 
short  lengths  and  trimmed  down  to  a 
point,  made  an  admirable  pen  for  this 


newly  discovered  i)aper.  This  was  the 
true  ancient  representative  and  precur- 
sor of  the  modern  pen.  The  use  of 
the  Reed  can  be  traced  to  a  remote 
antiquity  among  the  civilized  nations  of 
the  East,  where  Reeds  arc  in  use  now 
as  instruments  for  writing. 

The  introduction  of  a  finer  paper 
rendered  necessary  a  finer  instrument 
of  writing,  and  the  quill  of  the  goose, 
swan,  and,  for  very  fine  writing,  of  the 
crow,  was  found  to  be  well  adapted. 
Immense  flocks  of  geese  were  raised, 
chiefly  for  their  quills.  The  earliest 
specific  allusion  to  the  quill  occurs  in 
the  writings  of  St.  Isadore  de  Seville, 
seventh  century,  although  it  is  believed 
to  have  been  in  use  at  an  earlier  period. 
The  quill  was  used  for  many  centuries. 
Most  of  the  writing  during  its  reign 
Vv^as  done  in  the  monasteries  by  the 
monks,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century, 


THE  INVENTION  OF  THE  PEN 


15 


THE   FIRST  STEEL   PEN 


when  quill-making  became  quite  an  art, 
every  monk  and  every  teacher  was  ex- 
pected to  be  proficient  in  the  art  of 
making  a  pen  from  a  quill.  The  pre- 
liminary process  of  preparing  the  quills 
was  first  to  sort  them  according  to  their 
quality,  dry  in  the  hot  sand,  then  clean 
them  of  the  outer  skin,  and  harden  by 
dipping  in  a  boiling  solution  of  alum 
and  diluted  nitric  acid.  During  the  last 
century  many  efforts  were  made  to  im- 
prove the  quill,  its  great  defect  being 
speedy  injury  from  use.  Ruby  points 
were  fitted  to  the  nib,  but  this  was 
found  impracticable  on  account  of  the 
delicacy  of  the  work.  Joseph  Bramah 
devised,  in  1809,  a  machine  for  cutting 
the  quill  into  separate  nibs  for  use  in 
holders,  thus  making  several  pens  from 
one  quill  and  anticipating  the  form  of 
the  modern  pen. 

The   f|uill   beld   sway  as   writing   iti- 


strument  for  many  years,  and  with  it 
the  greatest  masterpieces  in  literature 
have  been  written.  Many  attempts, 
liowever,  had  been  made  to  supersede 
the  quill  by  a  pen  not  so  easily  injured 
by  use,  but  it  was  not  until  about  1780 
that,  after  much  experimenting  and 
numerous  failures,  Mr.  Samuel  Harri- 
son introduced  the  first  metallic  pen. 
This  pen  was  made  as  follows: 
A  sheet  of  steel  was  rolled  in  the 
form  of  a  tube.  One  end  was  cut  and 
trimmed  to  a  point  after  the  manner 
of  the  (|uill,  the  seam  where  both  edges 
of  the  tube  met  forming  the  slit  of  the 
])en.  This  was  soon  after  improved 
ui)on  by  cutting  a  rough  blank  out  of 
a  thin  sheet  of  steel,  which  blank  was 
filed  into  form  about  the  nib,  rounded, 
and  with  a  sharp  chisel  marked  inside 
where  the  slit  was  to  be  in  the  finished 
pen.      After    tempering,    the    nib    was 


16 


THE  MODERN  WAY  OF  WRITING 


[ 


THE  MODERN  STEEL  PEN 


THE  MODERN  WRITING  PEN 


ground  and  shaped  to  a  point  suitable 
for  fine  or  broad  writing,  as  required. 

Once  started,  the  steel  pen  made 
rapid  strides  in  improvement.  Mr. 
James  Perry,  in  1824,  started  in  Eng- 
land the  manufacture  of  pens  on  a  large 
scale,  and  to  him  as  well  as  Gillott  is 
due  the  many  improvements  which 
followed. 

Perry  was  the  first  to  manufacture 
"slip"  steel  pens,  up  to  this  time  the 
pen  and  holder  being  one  piece. 

"In  times  of  yore,  when  each  man  cut  his 
quill 
With  little  Perryian  skill; 
What   horrid,   awkward,   bungling  tools   of 
trade 
Appeared     the     writing    instruments,     home 
made !" 

The  steel  pen  of  the  present  day 
has  reached  the  pinnacle  of  perfec- 
tion, and  the  method  of  manufacture 


of  this  little  but  mighty  instrument  of 
writing,  though  of  extreme  interest,  is 
j^ractically  unknown  by  the  general  pub- 
lic. To  explain  in  detail  the  develop- 
ment from  the  rough  steel  to  the  fin- 
i.=hed  pen  would  needs  make  a  book  in 
itself.  And  as  it  has  been  our  intention 
to  dwell,  not  upon  the  manufacture  of 
the  pen,  but  to  trace  its  history  and 
development  from  its  most  crude  form, 
the  Stylus,  to  the  perfect  and  smooth- 
writing  steel  pen  of  to-day,  we  will 
close  our  story  with  the  well-worn  epi- 
gram of  old,  grim  Cardinal  Richelieu : 

"Beneath  the  rule  of  men  entirely  great. 
The  Pen  is  mightier  than  the  Sword  I" 

How  a  Steel  Pen  is  Made 

In  the  picture  on  the  foUoyving  page,  we 
see  the  various  processes  required  in  rnaking 
a  steel  pen,  together  with  a  description  of 
each  process : 


HOW  A  STEEL  PEN  IS  MADE 


17 


I'he  pictures  herewith  printed  are  by  the  .courtesy  of  the  .Spencerlan  Feu  Company 


Raw  Material. — The  sheet  steel  is  cut  into  strips 
of  a  convenient  length  and  width,  and  then  rolled 
cold  to  the  exact  gauge  necessary,  according  to  the 
pen   to   be    manufactured. 

Cutting  the  Blank. — This  is  a  mechanical  opera- 
tion, and  is  effected  with  the  aid  of  a  screw  press, 
in  which  a  pair  of  tools  corresponding  with  the 
shape  of  the  pen  has  been  fixed.  On  pulling  a 
lever  the  screw  descends,  driving  the  punch  into 
the  bed,  which  cuts  a  blank  with  a  scissors-like 
action,   from   the   strip   of  steel. 

Marking  the  Name. — This  is  done  by  means  of 
a  punch  fixed  in  the  hammer  of  a  stamp,  worked 
by  the  foot.  The  blanks  are  rapidly  introduced' 
between  guides  fixed  on  the  bed  of  the  stamp,  and 
as  soon  as  the  hammer  has  fallen  the  blank  is 
thrown   out  and  a   new  one   introduced. 

Piercing. — The  tools  for  this  ojieration  are  of  a 
delicate  character.  The  blanks  are  fed  by  hand, 
as  above  explained,  and  the  hole  punched  by  a 
screw  press.  This  is  a  most  important  process; 
the  pierce  hole  and  slide  slits  fletermiiie  tlie  elas- 
ticity  and  regulate   the   flow   of   the    ink    on   the    pen. 

Annealing  or  Softening. — The  blanks  arc  still  mod- 
erately hard  and  before  raising,  it  is  necessary 
to  soften  them  by  heating  to  a  dull  rcij,  an'l 
allowing    them    to    gradually    cool. 

[Raising. — The  operator  places  one  of  the  soft 
blanks  on  a  die  to  which  guides  arc  affixed  to 
keep  it  in  position;  then  by  moving  (lie  lianillc  of 
the  press,  the  screw  descends,  forcing  a  die  which 
rounds  the  blank  into  the   form  of  a  pen. 

Hardening. — The  pen  is  now  too  soft,  and  is 
li.irdi-nfd     by     hfatitiK     an'l     the     imnirrtiiig     in     oil 


while  hot,  after  which  it  is  thoroughly  cleansed 
from    all    grease. 

Tempering. — The  pens  are  now  hard  but  very 
brittle,  and  in  order  to  correct  this  defect  they 
are  placed  in  an  iron  cylinder,  and  kept  revolving 
over  a  gas  or  charcoal  fire  until  they  acquire  a 
proper    temper. 

Scouring. — After  soaking  in  diluted  sulphuric 
acid,  the  pens  are  placed  in  iron  cylinders  contain- 
ing fine  stone  and  water,  or  tine  sand,  and  revolved 
for  several  hours.  When  taken  from  these  cylinders 
they    are   bright   and    smooth. 

Grinding. — This  is  a  process  performed  by  hand 
on  a  "bob,"  or  wooden  wheel  covered  with  leather 
and  dressed  with  emory,  revolving  at  high  speed. 
A  light  touch  on  the  emory  wheel  grinds  oil  the 
surface  between  the  pierce  hole  and  the  point,  to 
obtain    [iroper   action    and    to   assist   the    flow    of   ink. 

Slitting. — This  is  a  hand  process  performed  with 
a  press,  the  cutters  being  as  sharp  as  razors.  The 
pen  is  placed  in  position  by  means  of  guides,  and 
must  be  cut  with  utmost  precision  from  the  pierce 
hole  to  the  point,  the  jioint  nnist  be  divided  exactly 
in  the  middle,  the  least  variation  making  the  pen 
defective. 

Coloring  and  I'arnishing.  ■  'VUc  pens  having  been 
pr)lished  to  a  bright  silver  color  arc  placed  in  an 
iron  cylinder  atirl  kept  revolving  over  a  gas  or 
charco.il  lire  until  the  tint  rciiuircd  is  produced. 
TFiey  arc  then  immersed  in  a  bath  of  shellac  var- 
nish,   and    .'ifterwards    dried    in    an    oven. 

li.tamination.- — Kvery  steel  [)en  passing  through 
the  factory  is  most  carefully  examined  before  being 
boxe<f,  and  should  the  least  fault  be  found,  it  is 
at    onrr    rejrrted. 


18 


WHY  A  PENCIL  WRITES 


Why  Does  a  Pencil  Write  ? 

Vou  can  use  a  pencil  to  write  with 
or  to  make  marks,  because  the  pencil 
wears  off  if  you  are  scratching  it  on 
a  surface  that  is  rough  enough  to  make 
it  do  so.  Writing,  you  know,  is  only 
a  way  of  making  marks  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  make  them  mean  something. 
You  cannot  write  with  a  pencil  on  a 
pane  of  glass,  because  the  glass  is  so 
smooth  that  when  you  move  the  pencil 
over  its  surface,  the  pencil  will  not  wear 
oft*.  To  prove  to  yourself  that  the  tip 
of  the  pencil  constantly  wears  off  when 
you  write,  you  have  only  to  recall  that 
when  you  write  with  it  a  pencil  keeps 
getting  shorter  and  shorter.  A  slate- 
pencil  will  wear  down  short  by  merely 
writing  with  it.  but  a  lead-pencil  must 
be  sharpened — that  is,  you  must  keep 
cutting  away  the  wood  in  order  to  get 
at  the  lead  inside. 

Why  Can't  I  Write  on  Paper  With  a 

Slate-pencil  ? 

You  cannot  do  so,  because  it  takes 
something  with  a  rougher  surface  than 
paper  to  wear  off  the  point  of  a  slate- 
pencil.  A  slate  is  used  to  write  on  with 
slate-pencils,  because  slate  wears  off  the 
end  of  the  pencil  easily,  and  also  be- 
cause you  can  rub  out  the  writing  on  a 
slate  with  water.  Lead-pencils  are  used 
tor  writing  on  paper,  but  you  must  have 
a  rough  surface  on  the  paper  to  write 
or  even  with  a  lead-pencil.  Some  kinds 
of  papers  have  such  a  smooth  surface 
that  you  cannot  write  on  them  with  a 
lead-pencil. 

How  Does  a  Pen  Write? 

Writing  with  a  pen.  however,  is  quite, 
different  from  writing  with  any  kind 
of  pencil,  because  in  writing  with  ink 
we  do  not  wear  off  the  end  of  the  pen, 
but  have  the  ink  flow  from  the  pen. 
For  this  purpose  we  must  have  a  sur- 
face that  will  absorb  the  ink  from  the 
pen,  and  draw  the  ink  dow^n  off  the 
pen  and  make  it  flow.  A  slate  has  no 
power  of  absorption  and  therefore  can- 
not draw  the  ink.  A  piece  of  blotting 
paper  is  the  best  kind  of  paper  for  ab- 
sorbing ink,  but  it  is  too  much  so  for 


w  riting  purposes,  l^'or  writing  with  ink 
we  need  a  comparatively  hard  surfaced 
I>aper  that  has  absorbent  qualities,  but 
not  too  absorbent. 

How  Does  a  Blotter  Take  Up  the  Ink 

of  a  Blot? 

It  is  because  the  blotter  has  a  very 
excellent  ability  to  absorb  some  liquids. 
The  thinner  the  li(|uid  the  more  easily 
the  blotter  will  absorb  it.  Ink  is  thin — 
being  mostly  water — the  blotter  is  of 
a  loose  texture  and  has  a  rough  surface. 
This  gives  the  blotter  the  ability  to  pick 
up  the  ink.  just  as  a  sponge  would  do. 
A  sponge  has  what  is  called  the  power 
of- capillary  attraction  and  so  has  the 
blotter. 

Where  Does  Chalk  Come  From? 

Deposits  of  chalk  are  found  on  some 
shores  of  the  sea.  A  piece  of  chalk 
such  as  the  teacher  uses  to  illustrate 
something  on  the  blackboard  at  school 
consists  of  the  remains  of  thousands 
of.  tiny  creatures  that  at  one  time  lived 
in  the  sea.  All  of  their  bodies  except- 
ing the  chalk — called  carbonate  of  lime 
in  scientific  language — has  disappeared 
and  the  chalk  that  was  left  was  piled 
up  where  it  fell  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ocean,  each  particle  pressing  against 
the  other  with  the  water  pressing  over 
ir  all  until  it  became  almost  solid.  It 
took  thousands  of  years  to  make  these 
chalk  deposits  of  the  thickness  in  which 
they  are  found.  Later  on,  through 
changes  in  the  earth's  surface,  the 
mountain  of  chalk  was  raised  until  it 
stood  out  of  the  water  and  thus  became 
accessible  to  man  and  school  teachers. 

How  Did  Men  Learn  to  Talk? 

Talking  and  the  words  used  came 
into  being  through  the  desire  of  men  to 
communicate  with  each  other.  Before 
words  became  known  and  used  man 
talked  to  those  about  him  by  the  use 
of  signs,  gestures  and  other  movements 
of  the  body.  Even  to-day  when  men 
meet  who  cannot  talk  the  same  language 
they  will  be  seen  trying  to  come  to  an 
understanding  by  the  use  of  signs  and 
gestures  and  generally  with  fair  results. 


WHY  WE  COUNT  IN  TENS 


19 


The  need  of  more  signs  and  gestures 
to  express  a  constantly  increasing  num- 
ber of  objects  and  thoughts  led  to  the 
introduction  of  sounds  or  combination 
of  sounds  made  with  the  vocal  cords 
to  accompany  certain  signs  and  ges- 
tures. In  this  way  man  eventually  de- 
\  eloped  a  very  considerable  faculty  for 
expressing  himself.  Sign  by  sign,  ges- 
ture by  gesture  and  sound  by  sound 
language  was  slowly  developed.  A  man 
would  be  trying  to  explain  something 
to  another  by  sign  or  gesture  and  to 
make  it  more  clear  would  make  a  sound 
or  combination  of  sounds  to  put  more 
expression  into  his  efforts.  Finally  the 
other  man  would  understand  what  was 
meant  and  he  would  tell  some  one  else, 
using  the  same  signs,  gestures  and 
sounds.  Later  on  it  would  develop  that 
to  express  thus  any  certain  thought, 
act  or  the  name  of  a  thing,  all  of  the 
people  in  the  community  would  make 
this  same  combination  of  sounds,  signs 
and  gestures  to  express  the  same  thing. 
Finally  the  gestures  and  signs  would 
be  dropped  and  it  was  found  that  peo- 
ple understood  perfectly  what  was 
meant  when  only  the  sound  or  combi- 
nation of  sounds  was  produced.  That 
made  a  word.  All  the  other  words  were 
made  in  the  same  way,  one  at  a  time, 
until  we  had  enough  words  to  express 
all  the  ordinary  things  and  the  combi- 
nation of  words  became  a  language. 
The  children  learned  the  language  by 
hearing  their  parents  talk  it,  and  that 
is  how  men  learned  to  talk. 

Kow  Did   Shaking  the   Head  Come   to 

Mean  "No"? 

The  origin  of  this  method  of  indi- 
cating "No"  is  found  in  the  result  of 
the  mother's  efforts  in  the  animal  king- 
flom  of  trying  to  feed  her  young.  A 
mother  animal  would  be  trying  to  get 
her  young  to  accept  the  food  she 
brought  them  and  tried  to  put  it  in 
their  mouths.  Perhaps,  however,  the 
young  animal  had  had  sufficient  food 
or  (\\(l  not  fancy  the  kind  of  food  of- 
fered. The  natural  thing  t'o  do  under 
the  circumstances  woukl  be  to  close  the 
mouth  tight  and  shake  the  head  from 
side  to  side  to  j^revent  the  mother  from 


forcing  the  food  into  the  mouth.  Thus 
we  get  the  closed  lips  and  the  shaking 
the  head  from  side  to  side  to  mean 
"No."  In  other  words,  that  kind  of  a 
way  of  saying  "No"  came  from  an 
effort  to  say  "I  don't  want  any." 

How  Did  a  Nod  Come  to  Mean  "Yes"? 

The  idea  of  nodding  to  mean  "Yes" 
comes  from  the  opposite  of  the  action 
which,  as  just  described,  indicates  a 
"No." 

When  the  young  animal  was  anxious 
to  accept  the  offered  food,  it  made  an 
effort  to  get  at  the  food  quickly. 
FTence,  the  pushing  forward  of  the 
head  and  the  open  mouth  (always  more 
or  less  opened  when  you  nod  to  indi- 
cate "Yes")  and  an  expression  of  glad- 
ness. You  will  notice  if  you  see  any- 
one nod  the  head  to  indicate  "Yes" 
that  the  lips  are  open  rather  than  closed, 
and  that  there  is  always  a  smile  or  an 
indication  of  a  smile  to  accompany  it. 
In  other  words,  the  nod  to  mean  "Yes" 
is  only  another  way  of  saying  "I  shall 
be  pleased." 

Why  Do  We  Count  in  Tens? 

When  man  even  in  his  uncivilized 
state  found  it  necessary  to  count,  the 
only  implements  at  hand  were  his  fin- 
gers and  toes,  and  as  he  had  ten  toes 
and  ten  fingers,  he  naturally  began 
counting  in  tens,  and  has  been  doing 
so  ever  since. 

When  we  to-day  count  on  our  fingers 
we  confine  ourselves  to  our  fingers 
leaving  our  toes  stay  in  our  shoes, 
where  they  naturally  belong.  But  the 
first  men  who  counted  used  both  fingers 
and  toes,  and  so  he  was  able  to  count 
twenty  before  he  had  to  begin  over 
again,  while  little  children  to-day,  when 
they  count  with  their  fingers,  must 
Ijegin  where  they  started  after  they 
reach    ten. 

What    Does    Man    Mean    by    Counting 

Himself? 

The  expression  "counting  himself" 
was  originated  by  the  first  man  who 
counted.  Such  a  man  would  count  all 
of  his  fingers  and  toes  and  the  result 


20 


WHERE   THE    NAMES    OF   PEOPLE   CAME    FROM 


v.'ould  be  twenty.  Then,  so  that  he 
would  remember  the  number  of  times 
he  had  counted  himself,  he  made  a 
mark  some  place  each  time  he  reached 
twenty.  The  mark  he  made  was  a  mere 
scratch  in  the  dirt  or  on  a  hoc  or  some- 
tliiniij  else.  To  make  a  scratch  you 
merely,  of  course,  score  the  surface  of 
whatever  you  hapiien  to  be  scratchinc^ 
on,  and  that  is  how  it  happened  that 
the  word  ''score"  in  our  language  to- 
day means  as  a  term  in  counting, 
twenty. 

There  has  been  a  great  effort  made 
to  change  our  system  of  counting  in 
tens  to  one  where  you  count  in  twelves. 
Tiiat  would  fit  in  very  well  with  our 
system  of  measuring  which  is  based  on 
the  foot  of  twelve  inches,  and  of  our 
calendar  for  recording  the  passage  of 
time  which  has  twelve  months.  There 
are  many  arguments  in  favor  of  this 
change,  among  the  principal  of  which 
is  the  fact  that  it  would  make  our  prob- 
lems of  division  much  easier,  for  our 
ten  can  be  evenly  divided  by  but  two 
of  our  single  figures,  two  and  five, 
whereas  twelve  can  be  evenly  divided 
by  four  of  our  single  figures,  viz.,  two, 
three,  four  and  six.  It  is  believed  that 
sooner  or  later  the  system  of  count- 
ing by  twelve  instead  of  ten  will  be 
adopted  by  the  entire  world  for  count- 
ing everything.  As  it  is  now^  we  do  part 
of  our  counting  by  one  system  and  part 
of  it  by  another. 

Where   Did   All   the   Names   of  People 

Originate? 

There  is  no  scientific  plan  by  which 
jK'ople  get  their  names.  There  is  not 
much  except  curious  interest  to  be 
gleaned  from  the  study  of  how^  people 
got  their  names. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  the  world,  or 
at  least  as  soon  as  men  had  learned 
to  speak  by  sounds,  all  known  persons, 
places  and  groups  of  human  beings 
must  have  had  names  by  which  they 
could  be  spoken  of  or  to,  and  by  which 
they  were  recognized.  The  study  of 
these  names  and  of  their  survival  in 
civilization  enables  us  in  certain  in- 
stances to  tell  what  tribes  inhabited 
certain  parts  of  the  earth  now  peopled 


by  descendants  of  an  entirely  different 
race  and  of  another  speecli  altogether. 
We  learn  such  things  from  the  names 
of  mountains  and  other  things,  for  in- 
stance, which  still  cling  to  them. 

The  story  of  personal  names  is  very 
complex,  but  comes  from  very  simple 
beginnings.  The  oldest  ])ersonal  names 
were  those  which  indicated  a  grouj) 
of  peo])le  ratiier  than  individuals  who 
may  have  been  actually  related  to 
each  other  or  even  bound  together  for 
reasons  of  protection  or  other  conveni- 
ence. In  the  races  of  Asia,  y\frica,  Aus- 
tralia and  America  examination  shows 
tfiat  groups  of  people  who  considered 
themselves  to  be  of  the  same  relation- 
ship, attached  to  themselves  the  name 
of  some  animal  or  other  object, 
whether  animate  or  inanimate,  from 
which  they  claimed  to  be  descended. 
This  animal  or  object  was  called  the 
"totem,"  and  thus  the  earliest  and  most 
v.idely  spread  class  and  family  names 
are  totemistic.  Such  groups  called 
themselves  by  names  from  wolves,  tur- 
tles, bears,  suns,  moons,  birds,  and 
other  objects,  and  these  people  wore 
badges  with  pictures  of  the  animal  or 
object  from  which  they  took  their 
names  to  identify  them  to  other 
people. 

When,  then,  we  come  to  investigate 
the  giving  of  personal  names  among 
the  tribes,  we  see  that  most  uncivilized 
iLces  gave  a  name  to  each  new-born 
infant  derived  from  some  object  or  in- 
cident. So  a  new-born  member  of  the 
"Sun"  tribe  would  be  named  "Dawn," 
and  w^ould  be  known  as  "Dawn"  of 
the  "Sun"  tribe ;  or  perhaj^s  a  new-born 
son  of  the  tribe  of  "Wolf"  would  be 
called  "Hungry,"  and  be  known  as 
"Hungry  W^olf."  A  member  of  the 
"Cloud"  tribe  would  be  named  "Morn- 
ing," because  he  was  born  in  the  morn- 
ing. He  would  always  be  known  as 
"Morning  Cloud." 

Later,  as  society  became  more  estab- 
lished and  paternity  became  recognized, 
we  find  the  totem  name  give  way  to  a 
gentile  name.  Among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  the  system  was  early  adopted 
and  proved  satisfactory.  Thus  we  have 
Caius   Julius   Caesar.      Caius   indicates 


HOW  DIFFERENT   NAMES  ORIGINATED 


21 


that  he  is  Roman ;  JuHus  is  the  gentile 
name  given  him  and  the  Caesar  a  sort 
of  hereditary  nickname.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  early  Greeks  began  the  system 
of  introducing  a  local  name  instead  of 
the  gentile  name.  Thus  Thucydides 
(obtained  from  the  grandfather),  the 
son  of  Olorus,  of  the  Deme  (township) 
of  Halimusia. 

This  was  all  right  and  suited  the  pur- 
poses of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  who 
had  plenty  of  time  to  give  full  expla- 
nations in  this  way.  But  in  Europe,  for 
instance,  civilization  demanded  more 
speed,  and  the  increase  of  population 
demanded  more  names,  so  that  nick- 
names and  names  indicating  personal 
descriptions  and  peculiarities  came  into 
use.  Such  names  as  Long,  Short, 
Small,  Brown,  White,  Green  and 
others  of  the  same  kind  came  from  this 
source,  and  as  families  grew  these  sur- 
names stuck  to  the  family  and  parents 
gave  their  children  Christian  names  to 
further  distinguish  them  as  individuals. 
Other  surnames  such  as  Fowler,  Sad- 
ler, Smith,  Farmer,  etc.,  became  at- 
tached to  people  because  of  the  occupa- 
tions in  which  they  were  engaged,  and 
yet  other  names  were  derived  from 
places.  The  owner  of  an  extensive  es- 
tate would  be  designated  by  a  Christian 
name  which  might  be  George  (after 
his  King)  and  then  to  indicate  his 
landownership,  von  (meaning  of) 
Wood,  making  the  combination  of 
George  von  Wood,  meaning  George, 
the  owner  of  the  place  called  Wood. 
On  the  other  hand,  he  might  have  work- 
ing for  him  a  laborer  who  lived  at  the 
place  and,  if  his  name  was  Hiram,  they 
woukl,  to  indicate  where  he  belonged, 
put  the  Wood  after  the  Hiram ;  but, 
lest  there  be  confusion  as  to  his  class, 
they  would  put  an  At  before  the  Wood 
and  make  him  Hiram  Atwood,  inch'cat- 
ing  his  Christian  name,  whore  he 
worked  and  the  fact  that  he  was  not  a 
landowner. 

Many  other  names  were  invented  in 
simikir  manner.  When  Adams  became 
so  common  that  there  would  likely  be 
confusion  on  account  of  there  being 
so  many  of  them,  a  son  of  one  of  the 
Adams  family  would  add  to  the  name 


the  fact  that  he  was  a  son  by  writing 
his  name  Adamson,  and  thus  start  a 
new  family  name.  Thus,  in  the  same 
^v•ay  also  came  Willson,  Clarkson,  and 
other  names  of  that  kind. 

For  a  long  time  the  Jews  had  only 
one  word  for  a  name,  such  as  Isaac, 
Jacob,    Moses,    etc.      They   became    so 
numerous  that  it  was  impossible  to  dis- 
tuiguish  them,  and  so  a  commission  was 
named  to  give  surnames  to  all  the  Jews 
in  addition  to  their  other  names.     As 
the  race  was  then,  as  now,  held  in  de- 
rision by  the   rulers   of   many  nations 
into  which  the  tribe  had  become  scat- 
tered, the  people   who   had  charge   of 
the  naming  of  the  Jews  took  advantage 
of   the   opportunity   to   make   sport   of 
them,  and  gave  them  such  names  as 
Rosenstock  (Rose  bush), 
Rosenszweig    (Rose  twig), 
Rosenbaum   (Rose  tree), 
Blumenstock    (Flower  bush), 
Blumenthal  (Flower  valley), 
etc.,  etc. 

Our  Christian  names  are  from  simi- 
lar sources,  and  while  many  of  them 
are  well  selected  because  of  their  beau- 
tiful meanings,  there  are  many  of  them 
which  mean  nothing  as  words  as  they 
were  only  invented  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  a  new  name  to  a  new  child. 

Why  Can  You  Blow  Out  a  Candle? 

W'hen  you  light  a  candle  it  burns,  be- 
cause the  lighted  wick  heats  the  wax 
sufficiently  to  turn  it  into  gases,  which 
mix  with  the  oxygen  in  the  air  and  pro- 
cjuce  fire  in  the  form  of  light.  You 
know  it  is  not  easy  to  light  a  candle 
(juickly.  You  must  hold  the  lighted 
match  to  the  wick  until  the  wax  begins 
to  melt  and  change  to  gases.  As  long 
as  the  wax  continues  hot  enough 
to  melt  and  turn  to  gas  the  candle 
will  burn  until  all  burned  up;  Init  if 
there  is  a  break  in  the  continuous 
process  of  changing  the  wax  to  gas, 
the  light  will  go  out.  Now,  when  you 
blow  at  the  lighted  candle,  you  blow 
the  gases  which  feed  the  flame  away 
from  the  lighted  wick,  and  this  makes 
a  break  in  the  continuous  flow  of  gas 
from  the  wax  to  taper,  and  the  light 
goes  out. 


22 


HOW  A  CAMERA  TAKES  A   PICTURE 


The  Story  in  a  Photograph 


How  Does  a  Camera  Take  a  Picture? 

\\'hrn  we  look  upon  the  surface  of 
a  minor  we  see  the  image  of  ourself 
and  our  surroundings.  The  extent  of 
tlie  view  depends  upon  the  size  of  the 
mirror  and  the  distance  we  are  stand- 
ing from  it. 

If  we  hold  the  mirror  close  to  our 
face  we  see  only  the  face,  or  perhaps 
but  a  portion  of  it,  and  the  farther 
away  we  are  the  more  the  mirror  will 
reflect,  only,  of  course,  the  various 
images  will  be  smaller.  The  mirror 
reflecting  exactly  what  the  eye  sees, 
without  doubt  had  a  great  influence  in 
inducing  the  experiments  that  resulted 
in  the  process  we  call  photography. 

The  taking  of  a  photograph  with  a 
camera  may  in  a  way  be  compared  with 
the  action  of  your  eyes,  when  you  gaze 
upon  your  reflection  in  a  mirror,  or 
look  at  any  object  or  view.  Any  ob- 
ject in  a  light  strong  enough  to  render 
it  visible  will  reflect  rays  of  light  from 
every  point. 

Now.  the  eye  contains  a  lens  very 
similar  in  form  to  that  used  in  a  cam- 
era. This  lens  collects  the  rays  of  light 
reflected  from  the  object  looked  at 
and  brings  them  to  a  focus  in  the  back 
of  the  eye,  forming  an  image  or  picture 
of  whatever  we  see,  just  as  the  mirror 
collects  the  rays  of  light  and  reflects 
them  back  through  the  lens  of  the  eye. 

Certain  nerves  transmit  the  impres- 
sion of  the  image  so  focused  in  the  back 


of  the  eye  to  the  brain  and  we  experi- 
ence the  sensation  of  sight. 

What  Is  the  Eye  of  the  Camera? 

The  lens  is  the  eye  of  the  camera, 
and  the  process  we  call  photograi:)hy 
is  the  method  employed  to  make  per- 
manent the  image  the  eye  or  lens  of  the 
camera  presents  to  a  sensitive  surface 
within  the  camera. 

Fig.  I  shows  a  simple  form  of  cam- 
era, it  being  merely  a  light  tight  box 
with  a  lens  fitted  to  the  front,  and  a 
means  for  holding  a  sensitive  plate  at 
the  back,  the  plate  being  placed  at  just 
the  right  distance  to  focus  the  rays  of 
light  admitted  through  the  lens  in 
exactly  the  same  manner  as  the  rays  of 
light  pass  through  the  lens  of  the  eye 
and  come  to  a  focus  in  the  back  part 
of  the  eye. 

Now,  if  we  could  look  inside  the 
camera  we  would  note  that  the  image 
was  inverted,  or  upside  down. 

Fig.   2  will   explain   this. 

The  rays  of  light  from  "A"  pass  in 
a  straight  line  through  the  lens  "B" 
until  they  are  interrupted  by  "C," 
upon  which  they  strike,  forming  an 
upside  down  image  of  the  object  "A." 
But,  you  exclaim,  "we  do  not  see  things 
upside  down."  No,  we  do  not,  because 
some  mental  process  readjusts  this 
during  the  passing  of  the  impression 
from  the  eye  to  our  brain. 

Let  us  suppose  we  have  our  camera 
loaded  with  its  sensitive  plate  or  film. 


HOW  A  PHOTOGRAPH  IS  DEVELOPED 


23 


We  select  some  object  or  view  we  wish 
to  photograph,  uncover  the  lens  for  an 
instant,  and  let  the  light  impress  the 
image  upon  the  sensitive  surface  of  the 
plate  or  film.  Now,  how  are  we  going 
to  make  this  image  permanent? 

If  we  were  to  examine  the  creamy 
yellow  strip  of  film  upon  which  the 
[)icture  was  taken  there  would  seem- 
ingly be  no  difference  between  its  pres- 
ent appearance  and  before  the  snap- 
shot was  made. 

Now  let  us  suppose  that  this  strip 
of  film  is  a  little  trundle  bed,  and  in  it 
tucked  securely  away  from  the  light 
are  many  hundreds  of  little  chaps 
called  silver  bromides,  little  roly-poly 
fellows  lying  just  as  close  together  as 
possible,  and  protected  by  a  coverlet 
of  pure  white  gelatine. 

Until  the  sudden  flash  of  light  in 
their  faces  when  the  picture  was  taken, 
they  have  been  content  to  lie  still  and 
sleep  soundly.  Now  they  are  seized 
with  a  strange  unrest,  and  each  little 
atom  is  eager  to  do  his  part  in  show- 
ing your  picture  to  the  world.  Alone 
they  are  powerless,  but  they  have,  all 
unbeknown  to  them,  some  powerful 
chemical  friends,  who,  organized  and 
aided  by  the  photographer,  will  bring 
about  their  transformation.  These 
chemicals,  with  the  help  of  the  pliotog- 
ra])her,  form  themselves  into  a  society 
called  the  developer. 

The  photographer  takes  just  so  many 
of  the  tiny  feathery  crystals  of  pyro, 
just  so  many  of  the  clear  little  atoms 
of  sulphite  of  soda,  and  just  so  many 
little  crystals  of  carbonate  of  soda,  and 
tumbles  them  all  into  a  beaker  of  clear 
cold  water.  Unaided  by  each  other, 
any  one  of  these  chemicals  would  be 
powerless  to  help  their  little  bromide 
of  silver  friends.  The  first  of  these 
chemicals  to  go  to  work  is  the  carbo- 
nate of  soda. 

He  tiptoes  softly  over  to  the  trundle 
l)Cfl  and  gently  begins  turm'ng  back  the 
gelatine  covers  over  the  little  bromide 
of  silver  chaps,  so  that  Tyro  can  find 
them  in  the  dark. 

It  is  Pyro's  mission  to  transform 
the  little  silver  bromides  into  silver 
metal,   but   he   is    rather   an    impulsive 


chap,  so  he  is  accompanied  by  sulphite 
of  soda,  who  warns  him  not  to  be  too 
rough,  and  whose  sole  mission  is  to 
strain  his  eagerness  to  help  his  fridids. 

"Go  slow  now,"  says  Sulphite,  "don't 
frighten  the  little  silver  bromides,  or 
else  you'll  make  them  cuddle  up  in 
heaps,  and  the  picture  won't  be  as  nice 
as  if  you  wake  them  up  gently  and 
each  little  bromide  stayed  just  where 
he  belonged." 

After  all  the  little  silver  bromides 
that  the  light  shone  on  have  been  trans- 
formed into  metallic  silver  by  the  de- 
veloper, another  chemical  friend  has 
to  step  in  and  carry  away  all  the  little 
bromides  that  were  not  awakened  by 
the  flash  of  light. 

This  friend's  name  is  "Hypo,"  and 
in  a  few  minutes  he  has  carried  away 
all  the  little  bromides  that  are  still 
sleeping,  so  that  the  trundle  bed  with 
the  now  awakened  and  transformed 
silver  bromides  will,  after  washing  and 
drying,  be  called  a  negative,  and  ready 
to  print  your  pictures  from. 

If  we  take  this  negative,  as  it  is 
called,  and  hold  it  up  to  the  light,  we 
will  see  that  everything  is  reversed, 
not  only  from  right  to  left,  but  also 
that  whatever  is  white  or  light  in  color 
is  dark  in  the  negative,  and  that  what 
would  correspond  to  the  darker  parts 
of  our  picture  are  the  lightest  in  the 
negative,  and  it  is  from  these  facts 
that  we  give  it  the  name  negative. 

Now,  to  get  our  picture  as  it  should 
be,  we  must  place  this  negative  in 
contact  with  a  sheet  of  coated  ])aper 
that  is  also  sensitive  to  light. 

So  we  place  the  negative  and  the 
sheet  of  sensitive  paper  in  what  is  called 
a  printing  frame,  with  the  negative 
uppermost,  so  that  the  light  may  shine 
through  the  negative,  and  impress  the 
image  ui)on  the  sheet  of  sensitive  paper. 
Now,  it  stands  to  reason  that  if  the 
lightest  ])arts  of  our  picture  are  the 
darkest  in  the  negative  that  less  light 
cm  pass  through  such  j^ortions  of  the 
negative  in  a  given  time,  so  that  with 
the  proj^er  exposure  to  light  the  image 
lijjon  the  sheet  of  sensitive  paper  will 
be  a  correct  picture  of  whatever  the 
lens  saw. 


24 


HOW  SHOOTING   SHELLS   ARE   PHOTOGRAPHED 


The  swiftest  thing  that  the  human  race  has  ever  put  into  motion  is  the  steel  projectile 
of  a  twelve-inch  gun.  Xo  human  eye  can  follow  its  flight.  Released  at  a  pressure  of 
forty  thousand  pounds  to  the  square  inch — in  a  heat  at  which  diamonds  melt  and  carbon 
boils — it  hurls  through  the  air  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  miles  a  minute,  and  reaches  the 
mark  ahead  of  its  own  sound!     (Pictures  and  story  by  courtesy  of  McClure's  Magazine.) 


TWENTY-FIVE  MILES  A  MINUTE 

An   Exclusive  Story,  Illustrated  with  a   Series  of  Remarkable   Photographs   Taken 

WITH  the  Fastest  Camera  in  the  World 

By  Cleveland  Moffett 


One  of  the  most  progressive 
branches  of  our  mihtary  service  is  the 
Department  of  Coast  Defenses,  which, 
under  the  far-seeing  guidance  of  Gen- 
eral E.  AL  Weaver,  holds  our  shores 
and  harbors  in  a  state  of  alert  prepar- 
edness against  foreign  aggression.  At 
Hampton  Roads  sits  the  Coast  Artil- 
lery Board,  composed  of  officers  and 
consulting  engineers  to  whom  are  re- 
ferred  all  problems   relating  to   coast 


artillery,  and  who  have  the  responsi- 
bility of  testing  all  new  instruments 
proposed  for  artillery  use.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  article  is  to  describe  one 
among  several  notable  achievements  of 
the  Hampton  Roads  Coast  Artillery 
School,  this  particular  work  having 
been  done  by  Captain  F.  J.  Behr  of 
the  Coast  Artillery  Corps,  who,  after 
years  of  efifort,  has  recently  developed 
a  system  that  makes  it  possible  to  take 


THE   FASTEST  CAMERA   IN   THE  WORLD 


zo 


r- 


The  big  gun,  equipped  with  the  fastest 
camera  shutter  in  the  world,  about  to  be  fired 
and  the  shell  photographed. 


l-or  VL-ars  a  ^'oung  otiiccr  of  the  Loast  ArliUcry  has  liecn  irying  to  devise  a  camera 
so  incredibly  swift  that  it  will  record  every  stage  of  this  lightning  flight  from  the  gun- 
barrel  to  the  target.  At  last  he  has  succeeded.  His  photographs^ — some  of  them  taken 
rme  hundred  thousandth  of  a  second  apart — have  revealed  remarkable  and  unsuspected 
facts  to  the  military  world.     The  story  of  his  invention  had  never  before  been  told. 


L 


jiictures  of  the  swiftest  moving  bodies, 
the  great  steel  projectiles  of  our  big- 
gest guns — to  seize  them  with  the  cam- 
era's eye  as  they  hurl  through  the  air 
at  enormous  velocities  or  at  the  very 
moment  of  their  emergence  from  the 
gun  muzzles,  and  to  preserve  these 
images,  never  seen  before,  for  military 
study  and  comparison.  Captain  Behr 
was  ably  assisted  in  this  work  by  Engi- 
neer J.  A.  Wilson. 

Reckoning  in  Millionths  of  a  Second. 
Some  of   the  increments  and   decre- 


ments of  time  involved  in  the  series  of 
])hotographs  herewith  published  (sev- 
eral of  them  for  the  first  time)  are  as 
small  as  one  ten-lhousandth  jiart  of  a 
second.  And  Ca])tain  lichr  has  devised 
a  method  of  taking  photograjjlis  of 
I^rojectiles  as  they  arrive  at  a 
steel  target  and  penetrate  the  tar- 
get, inch  by  inch,  that  involves  in- 
crements or  decrements  of  time 
as  small  as  the  one  hundred- 
thousandth  part  of  a  second.  To 
the  uninitiated  it  seems  incredible  that 
.«uch  infinitesimal  divisions  of  time  can 


26 


THE  PROJECTILE  EMERGING  FROM  MORTAR 


be  used  in  practical  calculations ;  but 
every  trained  physicist  knows  that  in 
wireless  work  scientists  of  to-day  speak 


cr.sually  of  experiments  that  take  ac- 
count of  tzco-teuths  or  one-tenth  of  a 
)niUionth  part  of  a  srro)u!' 


\%»  4 


x: 


In  this  photograph— the  first  of  a  remarkable  series  showing  five  stages  of  a  movnig 
projectile— the  half-ton  projectile  seems  to  be  standing  still,  but  really  it  is  trayelmg  at  the 
rate  of  900  miles  an  hour.  The  gunners  here  work  in  concrete  pits  34  feet  high.  Lnder- 
neath  the  mounts  are  the  powder  magazines.  Each  pit  has  four  mortars  usually  served  by 
an  entire  Coast  Artillery  Company.  The  projectiles  are  the  same  as  those  used  in  the 
twelve-inch  guns,  but  less  powder  is  required  because  mortar  projectiles  are  hurled  high  in 
the  air,  not  straight  at  a  vessel,  and  deliver  their  destructive  blows  downward  from  a  great 
height. 


THE   SMOKE   RINGS   WHICH   APPEAR 


27 


What  happened  to  the  projectile  after 
it  leaves  the  gun,  or  after  the  discharge 
of  the  gun,  and  before  the  projectile  has 
had  time  to  issue  from  the  gun-barrel? 


What  is  the  action  at  the  muzzle  of 
gases  generated  ?  What  shape  do  these 
gases  assume  as  they  leave  the  gim? 
What  causes  the  much-discussed  "gas- 


This  second  |ili(.loyrapli  shows  tlic  projectile  almost  entirely  out  of  the  nun  tar.  Us 
sharp  nose  may  be  seen  above  the  "gas-rinj?"  forming  at  its  upper  end.  These  "Ras-rings." 
or  "smoke-rings,"  come  without  warning,  and  only  occasionally,  perhaps  once  in  eight  or 
ten  shots.  They  rise  swiftly  to  the  height  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  feet,  growing  larger  and 
larger,  and  giving  forth  a  weird,  shrieking  sound  like  a  second  projectile.  Some  insist  that 
these  "smoke-rings"  are  as  hard  as  steel,  owing  to  the  enormous  compression  of  their  com- 
posing gases,  and  tli'-  story  is  told  of  a  liird  lamdit  in  tin-  ji.-illi  uf  one  of  tluin  and  torn  to 
pieces. 


28 


THE  PROJECTILE  HIDDEN  BY  THE  SMOKE  CONE 


rings"  that  sometimes  form  when  a 
mortar  is  fired,  and  oftener  do  not 
form?  What  phenomena  attend  the 
arrival  of  the  projectile  at  a  solid  steel 
tnrget?     Is  the  steel  actually  fused  hy 


the  heat  of  impact?  Is  it  vaporized? 
Or  what  ?  These  are  some  of  the  (|ues- 
t'ons  that  Captain  Behr  set  himself  to 
folve,  or  to  help  in  solving,  as  he 
worked  out  his  methods  of  rapid  pho- 


In  the  third  photograph  the  smoke-cone  is  almost  perfect  and  gives  the  famous  "powder- 
puff"  effect.  It  still  hides  the  projectile,  although  the  latter  is  traveling  at  a  velocity  that 
would  take  it  from  New  York  to  Chicago  in  one  hour.  At  night  the  "gas-rings"  present 
a  startling  and  fascmating  appearance,  burning  with  a  reddish  orange  glow,  and  whirling 
with  a  complicated  double  motion,  strange  opalescent  balls,  like  rings  of  Saturn.  A  study 
of  these  photographs — the  first  record  ever  made  of  the  "gas-rings" — has  led  some  experts 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  cause  of  the  rings  is  defective  ramming  of  the  projectile. 


THE   PROJECTILE   EMERGING  FROM   SMOKE  CONE 


29 


tography.  His  aims  were  strictly  mili- 
tary, but  his  results  make  fascinating 
appeal  to  the  general  imagination. 
P'ancy  doing  anything  in  the  one  hun- 


dred-thousandth part  of  a  second ! 

Captain  Behr's  general  idea  was  to 
utilize  some  phenomena  connected  with 

tlie  discharge  to   actuate,  by  electrical 


The  fourth  photograph  shows  the  projectile  emerging  from  the  smoke-cone  about 
thirty  feet  above  the  muzzle  of  the  mortar.  The  men  who  fire  these  mortars  from  the  mor- 
tar-pits never  see  the  distance  target  or  vessel  they  are  firing  at,  but  point  their  mortars 
according  to  directions  transmitted  to  them  (usu^y  by  telephone)  from  observers  at 
distant  stations.  And  so  great  a  degree  of  precisron  has  been  attaipexl  that,  on  certain 
practice  occasions  at  Hampton  Roads,  a  record  of  nine  hits  out  of  ten  shots  has  been 
scored  on  a  moving  target  five  miles  out  in  the  ocean.  This  picture  shows  the  smoke-cone 
as   first   seen  l)y   the   human   rye. 


30 


THE    PROJECTILE   HIGH    IN    THE   AIR 


connections,  a 
work  a  rapid 
placed   camera 


mechanism    that   would 

shutter    in    a    properly 

The   phenomenon   of 


concussion  was  tried  first — the  smash 
of  air  against  a  little  swinging  door; 
but  this  was  much  too  slow.    The  pro- 


In  the  fifth  photograph  the  projectile  is  seen  entirely  clear  of  the  smoke-cone  and 
well  started  on  its  long  flight.  Climbing  into  the  sky  at  this  steep  angle,  it  will  reach  a  height 
of  from  three  to  six  miles  before  it  begins  to  descend.  There  are  harbors  on  our  coasts 
guarded  by  so  many  guns  and  mortars  that  if  these  were  fired  simultaneously  they  could 
hurl  against  a  given  small  area  a  converging  rain  of  projectiles  aggregating  more  than 
fifty  tons  in  their  combined  mass.  A  minute  later  they  could  hurl  another  fifty  tons  against 
the  same  small  area;  and  so  on  as  long  as  the  ammunition  lasted. 


A   CAMERA   THAT    IS    FASTER   THAN    THE   EYE 


jcctile  was  hundreds  of  yards  away  be- 
fore the  camera  had  registered  its  pic- 
ture.    And  that  chance  was  gone ! 

In  the  next  trial,  several  months 
bter,  Captain  Behr  arranged  to  have 
the  electrical  connections  made  or 
broken  by  the  movement  of  the  gun- 
carriage  itself  in  recoihng;  but  the  re- 
sult was  unsatisfactory.  Nor  was  he 
more  fortunate  at  the  succeeding  target 
practice,  when,  having  placed  the  ap- 
{)?ratus  farther  forward  on  the  parapet, 
he  had  the  camera  demolished  by  the 
force  of  the  concussion  and  several 
blades  of  the  rapid  shutter  broken.  He 
was  satisfied,  now,  that  his  eflfort  to 
actuate  the  camera  mechanism  from  the 
gun-carriage  would  never  give  the 
requisite  precision  in  results,  and  he 
saw  that  he  must  work  with  a  device 
fimctioning  more  reliably. 

In  the  months  that  followed  before 
the  next  target  practice,  the  Captain  did 
some  experimenting,  and  finally  deter- 
mxined  making  the  projectile  itself  dis- 
place a  length  of  piano-wire  fixed 
across  the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  and  thus 
actuate  the  electrical  system  and  oper- 
ate the  shutter.  In  this  way  he  elimi- 
nated troublesome  variables  of  recoil, 
elasticity  of  the  carriage,  etc.,  leaving 
to  determine  only  the  time  element  of 
the  electrical  system  to  function.  This 
result  was  admirable,  and,  after  taking 
several  similar  pictures,  the  captain 
found  that  he  could  now  operate  with 
great  precision — that  is,  he  could  get 
the  same  phase  of  the  discharge  with 
almost  identical  shapes  of  gas-cone  and 
smoke-cloud,  and  he  could  get  these 
every  time. 

In  the  fall  of  1912  Captain  Behr 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  series  of  ex- 
tremely rapid  photographs  showing  a 
twelve-inch  mortar  battery  in  action. 
In  taking  these  pictures  the  camera  was 
[jlaccd  on  an  elevation  about  ten  feet 
above  the  concrete  floor  and  about  sixty 
feet  back  of  the  mortars.  The  electrical 
f'evice  for  working  the  shutter  was 
actuated  by  the  mortar  itself  in  its  re- 
coil. These  pictures  were  taken  in 
about  one  five-thousandth  of  a  second 
— which  is  the  more  remarkable  as  the 
last  two  were  taken  in  the  shaflc  after 


4.30  A.M.  The  first  three  were  taken 
about  noon,  in  the  sunshine,  as  the 
shadows    show. 

So  great  was  the  precision  of  the 
electrical  device  as  to  render  possible 
the  photographic  recording  of  these 
mortar  projectiles,  moving  at  great  ve- 
locities, in  almost  any  desired  position 
after  the  discharge,  say  two  feet  away 
from  the  muzzle,  or  six  feet  away,  or 
twenty  feet  away,  or  right  at  the  muz- 
zle, as  shown  in  the  first  mortar  pic- 
ture, where  the  great  projectile  has 
been  caught  in  its  flight  half  way  out 
of  the  mortar. 

Pictures  Never  Seen  By  the  Human  Eye. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  of  these 
five  mortar  pictures,  representing  five 
phases  of  the  firing,  only  the  last  two 
are  ever  seen  by  the  human  eye.  The 
far  swifter  camera,  acting  in  about  one 
five-thousandth  of  a  second,  has  caught 
all  these  phases  as  reproduced  here ; 
but,  to  the  ordinary  observer  standing 
by,  the  first  visible  impression  after 
firing  is  that  of  the  smoke-cone  as 
developed  in  Number  Four.  The 
strange  "powder-pufif"  efifect  shown  in 
Number  Three  is  never  seen ;  nor  the 
earlier  efifects  in  Numbers  One  and 
Two.  Nor  is  any  sound  heard  by  an 
observer  or  by  the  gun  crew  until  the 
third  or  fourth  phase  has  been  reached. 
This  is  a  matter  of  simple  calculation. 

Sound  travels  through  the  air  very 
slowly  as  compared  with  light,  and  in 
Numbers  One,  Two,  and  Three,  al- 
though the  crashing  explosion  has  taken 
place  and  the  projectile  is  already 
started  on  its  long  journey,  the  men 
(even  the  lanyard  man,  who  is  near- 
est), have  heard  nothing,  since  the 
sound-waves  have  not  yet  had  time  to 
reach  their  ears.  Nor  has  the  mortar 
itself  had  time  to  recoil,  as  it  does  pres- 
ently, down  into  the  well  in  the  floor  of 
the  pit. 

The  men  aboard  the  towing  vessels 
that  drag  the  floating  targets  during 
gun  and  mortar  practice  would  seem  to 
be  in  a  dangerous  position,  since  the 
tow-line  is  not  more  than  two  hundred 
yards  long  for  guns  and  five  hundred 
yards    long    for   mortars,   and    a    very 


:v2 


PROJECTILES  TRAVEL   FASTER  THAN   SOUND 


Tliis  shows  one  of  Captain  Behr's  earliest  eflforts  to  photograpli  the  projectile  from  a 
twelve-inch  gun.  The  man  on  the  platform  has  been  adjusting  the  electrical  connections 
that  actuate  the  camera  mechanism.  The  halo  effect  at  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  is  due  to 
compressed  air  caused  by  the  forward  rush  of  the  projectile.  The  projectile  has  not  yet 
emerged  from  the  muzzle  of  the  gun.  On  the  right  is  the  place  where  the  "Merrimac"  and 
the  "Monitor"  had  their  famous  fight. 


slight  error  in  aim  or  adjustment  might 
cause  a  deviation  of  several  hundred 
yards  when  the  range  is  eight  or  ten 
tliousand  yards.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
such  errors  do  not  occur,  and  a  gun- 
pointer  who  would  make  a  right  or  left 
deviation  from  the  target  of  ten  yards, 
or  at  the  most  fifteen  yards  at  a  dis- 
tance of  five  miles,  would  be  consid- 
ered unfit  for  his  job.  In  one  or  two 
rare  instances  a  towing  vessel  has  been 
struck  when  a  projectile  has  fallen 
short  and  then  ricochetted  to  the  right, 
as  it  invariably  does  owing  to  its  rota- 
tion in  that  direction.  The  rifling  of 
the  gun-barrel  causes  this  rotation. 
Sometimes    these    great    projectiles 


ricochet  several  times,  and  go  bounding 
over  the  water  as  a  pebble  skips  along 
the  surface  of  a  mill-pond,  only  there 
may  be  the  distance  of  a  mile  or  more 
between  these  giant  leaps. 

The  Projectile  Travels  Faster  Than  the 
Sound  It  Makes. 

A  strange  phenomenon  is  witnessed 
by  the  observer  on  a  towing  vessel  as 
he  looks,  rather  uneasily  perhaps,  to- 
ward the  distant  shore  battery,  that 
seems  to  be  firing  straight  at  him. 
First  there  is  a  flash  and  a  pufif 
of  smoke;  then  nothing  for  a  pe- 
riod of  seconds,  while  the  pro- 
jectile   is   on    its    way;    then    suddenly 


A   GUN  THAT  PHOTOGRAPHED   ITS  OWN  SHOT 


33 


In  this  beautiful  picture  the  hurling  projectile  was  itself  the  photographer;  that  is, 
in  passing  out  of  the  gun-barrel,  it  broke  a  length  of  piano-wire  stretched  across  the  muzzle 
and  thus  automatically  closed  an  electrical  circuit  that  actuated  the  camera  mechanism.  And 
so  rapid  was  the  shutter  that  the  great  shot  hurled  forth  in  the  discharge  photographed 
here  has  not  yet  had  time  to  issue  from  the  smoke-cone,  where  it  is  still  hidden. 


c'l  great  splash  as  the  mass  of  iron 
strikes  the  water.  Up  to  this  moment 
there  has  been  no  sound  of  the  dis- 
charge, no  sound  of  the  projectile,  since 
it  travels  faster  than  the  sound-waves ; 
but  now,  after  it  has  buried  itself  in 
the  ocean,  is  heard  its  own  unmistak- 
able voice,  a  low,  buzzing  um-m-m-iii 
approaching  from  the  shore.  The  pro- 
jectile itself  has  arrived  before  the 
sound  that  it  makes  in  transit,  and  the 
sound  arrives  afterward.  Last  of  all 
i?  heard  the  boom  of  the  discharge. 

Owing  to  the  great  velocity  of  gun 
projectiles,  it  is  almost  impossible  for 
an  observer  near  the  target  to  see  them 
as  they  approach  ;  but  a  trained  eye  can 


discern  the  slower  moving  mortar  pro- 
jectiles as  they  drop  out  of  the  sky, 
shrieking  as  they  come,  curving  down- 
ward from  a  height  of  four  or  five 
miles,  half  a  ton  falling  from  a  height 
of  four  or  five  miles. 

It  is  difficult  to  realize  what  an  enor- 
mous force  is  released  when  one  of 
these  twelve-inch  guns  is  discharged. 
The  pressure  inside  of  the  gun  behind 
tlie  projectile  is  between  thirty-five  and 
forty  thousand  pounds  to  the  square 
inch.  No  engine  or  machine  made  by 
man  produces  anything  like  this  pres- 
sure. The  boiler  pressure  in  steam-en- 
gines, or  in  big  turbines  driven  by  su- 
perheated steam,  does  not  exceed  two 


HXPI.ODINCi   A   SUBMARINH    MINI: 


huiulrcd  or  three  hundred  pounds  to 
the  square  inch.  The  huge  hydrauHc 
presses  that  would  crumple  up  a  steel 
girder  do  not  exert  a  pressure  of  more 
than  one  thousand  pounds  to  the  square 
inch.      The    only    reason    a    gun-barrel 


c.'.n  resist  this  pressure  (forty  thousand 
l^ounds  to  the  square  inch)  is  that  it  is 
l)uilt  up  in  a  series  of  concentric  steel 
hoojjs  or  tubes  shrunk  one  over  the 
other  until  there  is  a  resistance  ca])acity 
of    from    seventv    thousand    to    ninctv 


This  photograph  ilkistrates  another  important  form  of  coast  defense— the  Mibniarine 
mine.  A  target  about  5  by  5  feet,  with  a  red  flag  at  its  apex,  is  towed  across  the  mme- 
tield,  the  mines  being  e.xploded  electrically  from  a  shore  station  several  miles  away.  The 
methods  of  laying  and  exploding  these  mines  are  carefully  kept  secrets.  In  this  case  a 
charge  of  five  hundred  pounds  of  the  newest  explosive  was  used.  Fragments  of  the 
shattered  target  and  mine-buoy  are  seen  at  the  right  of  the  picture.  Tons  of  water  are 
hurled  into  the  air  by  these  explosions,  and  hundreds  of  fish  are  killed  or  stunned. 


WHY  THE  EYES   OF  SOME   PICTURES   FOLLOW   US 


35 


thousand  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
Even  at  rest,  the  barrels  of  these  great 
guns  are  under  such  enormous  compres- 
sion, from  being  thus  squeezed  within 
these  outer  steel  coverings,  that,  if  the 
retaining  steel  jackets  were  suddenly 
cut,  the  tubes  would  blow  themselves 
into  pieces  from  the  violent  reaction  of 
release. 

Not  only  does  this  smokeless  powder, 
burning  inside  these  guns,  produce 
enormous  pressure,  but  it  generates  in- 
conceivably great  heat.  Water  boils  at 
ioo°  Centigrade;  iron  melts  at  1400°; 
platinum  and  the  most  resistant  metals 
a1  2900°  ;  while  the  hottest  thing  on 
earth  is  the  temperature  of  the  electric 
arc,  in  which  carbon  boils.  This  tem- 
perature is   between   3000°   and  4000° 


only  450  rounds,  that  is,  the  gun  would 
be  worn  out  if  fired  every  three  min- 
utes for  a  single  day.  After  that  a  new 
life  may  be  given  it  by  boring  out  the 
inner  tube  and  putting  in  a  new  steel 
lining. 

A   Secret   for   Which   Foreign   Govern- 
ments Would  Pay  Millions. 

A  few  words  may  be  added  about  the 
formidable  smokeless  powder  used  in 
these  great  guns.  This  powder,  in  spite 
of  its  terrible  power,  is  of  innocent  ap- 
pearance, and  a  small  stick  of  it  may 
be  held  safely  in  the  hand  while  it 
burns  with  a  vivid  yellowish  flame. 
There  is  no  danger  of  its  exploding  or 
detonating  like  gun-cotton,  and  yet  it 
is  made  from  gun-cotton,  treated  by  a 


Centigrade,  and  is  believed  to  be  the 
same  as  that  of  these  great  powder 
chambers  when  the  gun  is  fired.  Thus 
,'i  diamond,  the  hardest  substance 
Inown,  would  melt  in  the  barrel  of  a 
iwelve-incli  gun  at  the  moment  of  dis- 
( harge.  'i'he  consequence  is  that  at 
rncli  fjischargc  of  a  big  gun  a  thin  skin 
of  metal  inside  the  barrel  is  literally 
fused,  and  this  leads  to  rapid  erosion 
of  the  softcncfl  .surfaces  under  the  tear- 
ing pressure  of  gases  generated.  The 
rifling  is  worn  away;  the  band  over  the 
p'-ojcctile  becomes  loose-fitting;  and 
soon  the  huge  gun,  that  has  cost  such 
a  great  sum.  is  rendered  unfit  ior  ser- 
vice.     The  life  of  a  t weive-incli  gun  is 


colloiding  process  that  is  one  of  our 
jealously  guarded  military  secrets. 
There  are  foreign  governments  that 
would  give  millions  to  know  exactly 
how  this  powder  is  made  and  how  it  is 
preserved  for  years  without  deteriora- 
tion. The  recent  destruction  of  two 
sliips  of  the  French  navy  was  (hie,  it 
is  believed,  to  deterioration  of  llieir 
smokeless  powder. 

Why  Do  Some  Eyes  In  a  Picture  Seem 
to  Follow  Us? 

]f  a  person's  jMcture  is  taken  with 
the  eyes  of  the  person  looking  directly 
into  the  lens  or  (jpening  of  tlie  eanu'ra, 
tliiMi  the  eyes  in  the  picture  will  always 


36 


WHY   \0V   CAN   BLOW  OUT  A  CANDLE 


be  directly  on  and  appear  to  follow 
whoever  is  looking  at  it.  This  is  also 
true  of  paintings.  If  a  subject  being 
painted  is  posed  so  as  to  look  directly 


v^  '::^ 


*# 


<*r-r- 


W 


al  the  painter,  and  the  artist  paints  the 
picture  with  the  eyes  so  pointed,  then 
the  eyes  of  the  picture  will  follow  you. 
^^'hen  you  are  looking  at  a  picture  of  a 
person  and  the  eyes  do  not  follow  you, 
you  will  know  at  once  that  he  was  not 
looking  at  the  camera  or  artist  when 
the  picture  was  being  taken  or  painted. 

Where  Does  a  Light  Go  When  It  Goes 
Out? 

To  understand  the  answer  to  this 
question  fully  you  will  first  have  to 
learn  what  light  is,  and  particularly 
that  it  is  not  the  flame  from  the  gas 
jet  or  of  the  lamp  or  candle  that  is 
actually  the  light,  but  that  light  con- 
sists of  rays  or  waves  in  the  ether, 
which  is  constantly  in  all  space  and 
even  in  our  bodies,  coming  from  the 
something  that  is  burning.  This  in  the 
instance  above  mentioned  would  be  the 
gas  burning  as  it  comes  out  of  the  gas 
jet,  the  oil  in  the  lamp  as  it  comes  up 
through  the  wick  or  the  flame  of  the 
candle.  We  are  apt  to  call  a  lighted 
gas  jet  a  lamp,  or  a  candle,  light,  be- 


cause it  is  steady.  Really,  however, 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  keeping  light 
in  a  room  in  an  actual  sense,  for  rays 
of  light  travel  from  the  substance 
which  produces  them  faster  than  any- 
thing else  we  know  of  in  the  world. 
The  first  thing  a  light  wave  does  when 
it  is  once  created  is  to  go  some  place, 
and  it  does  this  at  the  rate  of  186,000 
miles  per  second.  If  it  cannot  pene- 
trate the  walls  of  the  room  it  is  either 
rellected  hack  in  the  direction  from 
which  it  canio  or  transformed  by  the 
objects  which  it  strikes  into  some  other 
kind  of  energw 

^^'hen  you  look  at  the  rays  coming 
from  a  gas  jet,  you  do  not  sec  one  ray 
for  more  than,  say  the  millionth  part 
of  a  second,  but  because  these  rays  of 
light  come  so  fast  one  after  the  other 
from  the  burning  jet  and  spread  in  all 
directions,  they  seem  to  be  continuous. 

So  you  see  that  the  rays  of  light  are 
going  away  as  fast  as  they  are  coming 
from  the  gas  jet.  They  either  go  on  as 
light  or,  as  said  above,  are  changed  into 
other  forms  of  energy  when  they  strike 
things  they  cannot  penetrate  in  the 
form  of  light,  or  rather  one  thing, 
which  is  heat.  A  large  part  of  it  goes 
into  the  air  in  the  room  in  the  form 
of  heat,  as  you  well  know,  now  that 
it  is  called  to  your  attention.  Some  of 
it  goes  into  the  furniture  and  some  of 
:t  is  changed  into  another  form  of  heat, 
which,  combining  with  the  chemicals  in 
other  things  it  mixes  with,  changes 
their  appearance  and  usefulness.  As, 
for  instance,  the  carpets  and  hangings 
in  the  room,  the  colors  of  which  be- 
come faded  when  exposed  to  light  rays 
too  much.  The  heat  from  the  light 
rays  is  responsible  for  the  fading  of 
colors  in  our  garments  as  well. 

When  you  "put  out  the  light,"  as  we 
say,  or  turn  ofif  the  gas,  you  cut  oflf  the 
source  of  light.  Really,  then,  our  ex- 
pression that  "the  light  goes  out"  is 
only  true  while  the  gas  is  lighted,  for 
from  the  flaming  gas  jet  the  light  is 
going  out  all  the  time,  whereas  when 
the  gas  is  turned  off  no  light  is  being 
produced,  and  when  you  turn  off  the 
gas  you  do  not  turn  out  the  light,  but 
only  that  which  makes  light. 


WHY  A   FIRE   GOES   OUT 


Why  Does  a  Fire  Go  Out? 

Fire  will  go  out  naturally  when  there 
is  nothing  left  to  burn,  or  it  will  go 
out  if  it  cannot  secure  enough  oxygen 
out  of  the  air  to  keep  it  going.  In  the 
first  case  it  dies  what  we  might  call  a 
"natural  death,"  and  in  the  latter  case 
the  fire  practically  suffocates.  The  fire 
in  the  open  fireplace,  if  it  has  plenty 
of  air,  will  burn  up  everything  burn- 
able that  it  can  reach.  The  stones  of 
the  fireplace  or  other  parts  of  a  stove 
will  not  burn,  because  they  have  already 
been  burned,  and  you  cannot  burn  any- 
thing a  second  time,  if  all  of  the  oxygen 
in  it  was  burned  out  of  it  the  first  time. 

Now,  then,  to  burn  up  a  thing,  you 
must  first  start  a  fire  under  it,  and  then 
keep  a  constant  draft  of  air  playing 
on  it  from  beneath,  or  the  fire  will  die 
out.  The  more  dif^cult  a  thing  is  to 
l)urn,  the  more  important  it  is  that  you 
have  plenty  of  draft.  If  the  ashes  ac- 
cumulate under  the  fire  the  air  cannot 
go  through  them  in  sufficient  quantity 
nnd  the  fire  will  go  out.  Other  things 
which  prevent  the  current  of  air  from 
going  up  through  the  fire  will  cause  it 
to  go  out.  That  is  why  we  close  the 
lower  door  of  the  furnace,  to  keep  the 
fire  from  burning  out.  When  we  shut 
off  the  draft  of  air  from  below,  the  fire 
in  the  furnace  burns  slowly,  i.  e.,  it 
just  hangs  on,  so  to  speak. 

Why  Does  a  Lamp  Give  a  Better  Light 
With  the   Chimney  On? 

W'licn  a  lamp  is  burning  without  a 
chimney  it  generally  smokes.  That  is 
because  the  oil  which  is  coming  up 
through  the  wick  is  being  only  ])ar- 
tially  burned.  The  carbon,  which  is 
about  one-half  of  what  the  oil  con- 
tains, is  not  being  burned  at  all,  and 
goes  off  into  the  air  in  little  black 
specks  with  the  gases  which  are  thrown 
ofif.  The  reason  the  carbon  is  not 
burned  when  the  chimney  is  off  is  that 
there  is  not  sufficient  oxygen  from  the 
.'lir  combining  with  it,  as  it  is  separated 
from  the  oil  in  the  partial  combustion 
tliat  is  going  on.  To  make  the  carbon 
\v   the  oil  burn   you  must  mix   it   with 


plenty  of  oxygen  at  a  certain  tempera- 
ture, and  this  can  only  be  done  by  forc- 
ing sufficient  oxygen  through  the  flame 
to  bring  the  heat  of  the  flame  to  the 
point  where  the  carbon  will  combine 
with  it  and  burn.  When  you  put  the 
cbJmney  on  the  lamp  you  create  a  draft 
which  forces  more  oxygen  through  the 
flame,  brings  the  heat  up  to  the  proper 
temperature  and  enables  the  carbon  to 
combine  with  it  and  burn.  When  you 
take  the  chimney  off  again  the  heat 
goes  down,  when  the  draft  is  shut  off 
and  the  lamp  smokes  again. 

The  chimney  also  protects  the  flame 
of  the  lamp  from  drafts  from  the  sides 
and  above,  and  helps  to  make  a  brighter 
light,  because  a  steady  light  is  brighter 
than  a  flickering  one. 

The  draft  created  by  the  chimney 
also  forces  the  gases  produced  by  the 
burning  oil  up  and  away  from  the 
flame.  Some  of  these  gases  have  a 
tendency  to  put  out  a  light  or  a  fire. 


Does  Light  Weigh  Anything? 

To  get  at  the  answer  to  this  question 
Ave  must  go  back  to  the  definition  of 
light.  Light  is  a  wave  in  the  ether  and 
contains  no  particles  of  matter.  It, 
therefore,  does  not  weigh  anything  at 
all. 

When  men  had  studied  light  thor- 
oughly, however,  they  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  must  have  the  power  of 
pressure,  which,  from  the  standpoint  of 
results,  would  amount  to  the  same  thing 
a?  having  weight.  They  reasoned  that 
if  you  had  a  perfect  balance  and  let 
sunlight  shine  down  on  one  of  the  sides 
of  the  balance,  that  side  should  go 
down  under  the  pressure  of  light.  In 
their  first  experiments  along  this  line 
men  failed  to  show  that  under  such 
conditions  the  side  of  the  balance  on 
which  the  light  shone  did  go  down, 
but  by  continuous  exiieriments  it  was 
proved  finally  that  the  light  did  exert 
a  sufficient  pressure  to  cause  the  scales 
to  go  down,  and  in  effect  this  is  the 
same  as  having  weight;  but  this  has 
been  found  to  be  a  common  property 
of  rays  of  various  kinds,  including  heat, 


38 


WHY    A   STICK   IN    WATHR    BENDS 


and  we,  therefore,  do  not  speak  of  this 
quahty  as  wcii^ht,  Init  as  the  power  of 
radiating  pressure. 

Why  Does  a  Stick  Seem  to  Bend  When 
Put  in  Water? 

When  hght  passes  from  one  medium 
to  another,  as  for  example  from  glass 
or  water  to  air,  or  from  air  or  glass 
to  water,  the  rays  of  light  change  their 
course,  thus  making  them  seem  to  he 
hent  or  hroken.  The  rays  of  light  from 
the  part  of  the  stick  in  the  water  take 
a  dilTerent  direction  from  the  rays 
from  the  part  which  is  out  of  the  water, 
giving  the  appearance  of  breaking  or 
bending  at  the  place  where  the  air  and 
water  meet.  It  is,  of  course,  the  light 
rays  which  are  bent  and  not  the  object 
itself. 

This  bending  or  changing  of  the  path 
of  light  rays  is  called  refraction.  If 
you  place  a  coin  in  a  glass  of  water  so 
that  it  may  be  viewed  obliquely,  you 
can  apparently  see  two  coins,  a  small 
one  through  the  surface  of  the  water 
and  another  apparently  magnified 
through  the  side  of  the  glass. 

This  is  due  only  to  the  absolute  prin- 
ciple that  rays  of  light  change  their 
direction  in  passing  from  one  thing  to 
another,  and  on  this  principle  of  the 
rays  of  light  our  optical  instruments, 
ii'icluding  the  microscope,  the  telescope, 
the  camera  and  eyeglasses  are  based. 

What  Makes  the  Stars  Twinkle  ? 

I  might  tell  you,  just  to  show  how 
clever  I  am,  that  stars  do  not  twinkle 
at  all.  and  leave  you  with  that  for  an 
answer.  But  since  they  really  do  seem 
to  twinkle,  and  that  is  what  causes 
your  question,  I  will  tell  you.  As  we 
have  already  learned  in  our  talks 
about  the  stars  and  the  sky  in  general, 
the  stars  are  suns  which  are  constantly 
th.rowing  oft  light,  just  as  our  sun  gives 
us  light,  and  when  this  light  strikes 
the  air  which  surrounds  the  earth  it 
meets  many  objects — little  particles  of 
dust  and  other  things  always  floating 
about  in  it.     The  light  comes  to  us  in 


the  form  of  rays  from  tlie  stars  and 
some  of  these  rays  strike  particles  of 
various  kinds  in  the  air  and  are  thus 
interfered  with.  If  you  arc  looking  at 
a  lighted  window  some  distance  away 
ruid  there  are  a  lot  of  boys  and  girls 
or  men  and  women  running  past  the 
window,  one  after  the  other,  ra])i(lly. 
it  will  make  the  light  in  the  window 
appear  to  twinkle.  The  twinkling  is 
due  to  the  interference  which  the  rays 
of  light  encounter  while  traveling  to- 
ward the  eye. 

Why  Does   an   Onion  Make   the   Tears 
Come? 

That  is  nature's  way  of  protecting 
the  eyes  from  the  smarting  which  the 
onion  would  cause  in  your  eyes  if  tiie 
tears  did  not  come  quickly  and  over- 
come the  bad  effect  so  produced.  Tears 
are  provided  for  washing  the  ball  of 
your  eyes.  Every  time  you  wink  a 
little  tear  is  released  from  under  the 
eyelid,  and  the  wink  spreads  it  all  over 
the  eyeball.  This  washes  down  the 
front  of  the  eyeball  and  cleanses  it  of 
all  dust  and  other  things  that  fly  at 
the  eye  from  the  air.  Then  the  tear 
runs  along  a  little  channel,  much  like 
a  trough,  at  the  lower  part  of  the  eye, 
and  out  through  a  little  hole  in  the  eye, 
and  in  this  case  the  tear  is  really  onlv 
an  eye-wash.  Many  things,  but  more 
often  sadness  or  injured  feelings,  start 
the  tears  coming  so  fast  from  under 
the  eyelid  that  the  little  trough  at  the 
bottom  and  the  hole  in  the  corner  of 
the  eye  are  too  small  to  hold  them  or 
carry  them  ofif,  so  they  roll  over  the 
edge  of  the  lower  eyelid  and  down  the 
face.  These  are  what  we  call  tears. 
Among  other  things  that  will  cause 
tear-glands  to  cause  an  over-supply 
of  eye-wash  to  come  down,  are  onions. 
What  they  give  off  is  very  trying  to 
the  eyes,  and  so,  just  as  soon  as  the 
something  which  an  onion  throws  off 
hits  the  eyeball,  the  nerves  of  the  eye 
telegraph  the  brain  to  turn  on  the  tears 
quickly,  and  they  come  in  a  little  deluge 
and  counteract  the  bad  effect  of  the 
onion. 


40 


HOW    MAN    LEARNED  TO    SHOOT 


TUi;   CAVE   MAX  OF  PREHISTORIC  TIMES  WHO  UNCONSCIOUSLY  INVENTED  AMMUNITION 


The  First  Missile 


A  naked  savage  found  himself  in 
the  greatest  danger.  A  wild  beast, 
hungry  and  fierce  was  about  to  at- 
tack him.  Escape  was  impossible.  Re- 
treat was  cut  off.  He  must  fight  for 
his  life — but  how? 

Should  he  bite,  scratch  or  kick  ? 
Should  he  strike  with  his  fist?  These 
were  the  natural  defences  of  his  body, 
but  what  were  they  against  the  teeth, 
the  claws  and  the  tremendous  muscles 
of  his  enemy?  Should  he  wrench  a 
dead  branch  from  a  tree  and  use  it  for 
a  club?  That  would  bring  him  within 
striking  distance  to  be  torn  to  pieces 
before  he  could  deal  a  second  blow. 


There  was  but  a  moment  in  which 
to  act.  Swiftlv  he  seized  a  jagged 
fragment  of  rock  from  the  ground  and 
hurled  it  with  all  his  force  at  the  blaz- 
ing eyes  before  him;  then  another,  anrl 
another,  until  the  beast,  dazed  and 
bleeding  from  the  unexpected  blows, 
fell  back  and  gave  him  a  chance  to 
escape.  He  knew  that  he  had  saved  his 
life,  but  there  was  something  else 
which  his  dull  brain  failed  to  realize. 

He  had  invented  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion ! 

In  other  words,  he  had  needed  to 
strike  a  harder  blow  than  the  blow  of 
his  fist,  at  a  greater  distance  than  the 


THE    SLING    MAN    IN    ACTION 


41 


length  of  his  arm,  and  his  brain  showed 
him  how  to  do  it.  After  all,  what  is 
a  modern  rifle  but  a  device  which  man 
has  made  with  his  brain  permitting  him 
to  strike  an  enormously  hard  blow  at 
a  wonderful  distance?  Firearms  are 
really  but  a  more  perfect  form  of 
stone-throwing,  and  this  early  Cave 
Man  took  the  first  steo  that  has  led 
down  the  ages. 

This  strange  story  of  a  development 


The  men  and  women  in  the  Cave 
Colony  suddenly  found  that  one  bright- 
eyed  young  fellow,  with  a  little 
straighter  forehead  than  the  others, 
v/as  beating  them  all  at  hunting.  Dur- 
ing weeks  he  had  been  going  away 
mysteriously,  for  hours  each  day.  Now, 
whenever  he  left  the  cam]:)  he  was  sure 
to  bring  home  game,  while  the  other 
men  would  straggle  back  for  the  most 
part  empty-handed. 


PRACTICE   DEVELOPED   SOME   WONDERFUL   MARKSMEN   AMONG   THE   USERS    OF   THIS    PRIMITHTi    WEAPON 


has  been  taking  place  slowly  through 
thousands  and  thousands  of  years,  so 
that  toflay  you  are  able  to  take  a  swift 
shot  at  distant  game  instead  of  merely 
throwing  stones. 

We  do  not  know  the  name  of  the 
man  who  invented  the  sling.  Pos- 
sibly he  did  not  even  have  a  name,  but 
in  some  way  he  hit  upon  a  scheme  for 
throwing  stones  farther,  harder,  ruid 
straighter  than  any  of  his  ancestors. 


W^as  it  witchcraft?  They  decided  to 
investigate. 

Accor(h"ngly,  one  morning  several  of 
tl:em  followed  at  a  careful  distance  as 
lie  sought  the  shore  of  a  stream  where 
water- fowl  might  be  found.  Parting 
the  leaves,  they  saw  him  pick  up  a  pch- 
blc  from  the  bank  and  then  to  their 
surprise,  take  off  his  girdle  of  skin  and 
place  the  stone  in  its  center,  holding 
I'olh  ends  with  his  right  band. 


42 


THE   "LONG    BOW"    IN    SHERWOOD    FOREST 


Stranger  still,  he  whirled  the  girdle 
twice  around  his  head,  then  released 
one  end  so  that  the  leather  strip  flew 
out  and  the  stone  shot  straight  at  a  bird 
in  the  water. 

The  mystery  was  solved.  They  had 
seen  the  first  slingman  in  action. 

The  new  ])lan  worked  with  great  suc- 
cess, and  a  little  practice  made  expert 
marksmen.  We  know  that  most  of  the 
early  races  used  it  for  hunting  and  in 
war.  We  find  it  shown  in  pictures 
n\'ide  many  thousands  of  years  ago  in 
ancient  I'^gypt  and  Assyria.  We  find 
it  in  the  Roman  Army  where  the  sling- 
man was  called  a  "funditor." 

Surely,  too,  you  remember  the  story 
of  David  and  Goliath  when  the  young 
shepherd  "prevailed  over  the  Philistine 
with  a  sling  and  with  a  stone." 

Yet  slings  had  their  drawbacks.  A 
stone  slung  might  kill  a  bird  or  even  a 
man.  but  it  was  not  very  effective 
against  big  game. 


What  was  wanted  was  a  missile  to 
pierce  a  thick  hide. 

Man  had  begun  to  make  spears  for 
use  in  a  pinch,  but  would  you  like  to 
tackle  a  husky  bear  or  a  well-horned 
stag  with  only  a  s])ear  for  a  weapon  ? 

No  more  did  our  undressed  ances- 
tors. The  invention  of  the  jrreatly  de- 
sired arm  probably  came  about  in  a 
most  curious  wav. 

Long  ages  ago  man  had  learned  to 
make  fire  by  patientlv  nil»bing  two 
sticks  together,  or  by  twirling  a  round 
one  between  his  hands  with  its  point 
resting  upon  a  flat  ])iece  of  wood. 

Li  this  way  it  could  be  made  to 
smoke,  and  finally  set  fire  to  a  tuft  of 
dried  moss,  from  which  he  might  get  a 
fiame  for  cooking.  This  was  such  hard 
work  that  he  bethought  him  to  twist 
a  string  of  sinew  about  the  upright 
spindle  and  cause  it  to  twirl  by  pull- 
ing alternately  at  the  two  string  ends, 
as  some  savage  races  still  do.     From 


OXE    OF   ROBIX   HOOD  b   F.\MOUS    BAXD   KXCOUXTERS   A    SA\AGE    TUSKER    AT   CLOSE   RAXGE 


DEER=STALKING  WITH  THE  CROSSBOW 


43 


this  it  was  a  simple  step  to  fasten  the 
ends  of  the  two  strings  to  a  bent  piece 
of  wood,  another  great  advantage 
since  now  but  one  hand  was  needed  to 
twirl  the  spindle,  and  the  other  could 
hold  it  in  place.  This  was  the  "bow- 
drill"  which  also  is  used  to  this  day. 

But  bent  wood  is  apt  to  be  springy. 
Suppose  that  while  one  were  bearing 
on  pretty  hard  with  a  well-tightened 
string,  in  order  to  bring  fire  quickly,  the 


springier  piece  of  wood,  bent  it  into  a 
bow,  and  strung  it  with  a  longer  thong. 
He  placed  the  end  of  a  straight  stick 
against  the  thong,  drew  it  strongly 
back,  and  released  it. 

The  shaft  whizzed  away  with  force 
enough  to  delight  him,  and  lo,  there 
was  the  first  Bow-and-Arrow ! 

Armed  with  his  bow-and-arrow,  man 
now  was  lord  of  creation.  No  longer 
was    it   necessary    for   him    to    huddle 


THIS  COMPACT   ARM   WITH    ITS    SM..LL   BOLT   AND   GREAT   POWER    WAS    POl'l  1. AR    W nil    MANY   SPORTSMEN 


point  of  the  spindle  should  slip  from 
its  block.  Naturally,  it  would  fly  away 
with  some  force  if  the  position  were 
just  right. 

There  was  one  man  who  stopped 
short  when  he  lost  his  spindle,  for  a 
red-hot  i'lca  shot  suddenly  through  his 
brain. 

<')ncc  or  twice  lie  chuckled  to  him- 
self softly.  Thereupon  he  arose  and 
began  to  experiment.  Me  chose  a  longer, 


with  his  fellows  in  some  cave  to  avoid 
being  eaten  by  prowling  beasts.  In- 
stead he  went  where  he  would  and 
boldly  hunted  the  fiercest  of  them.  In 
other  words,  his  brain  was  beginning  lo 
tell,  for  though  his  body  was  still  no 
match  for  the  lion  and  the  bear,  he  had 
thought  ou'i  a  way  to  con(|uer  them. 

Also  he  was  better  fed  with  a  greater 
variety  of  game.  And  now,  free  to 
come  and  go  wherever  he  might  find  it, 


44 


THE  DISCOVERY  OF  GUNPOWDER 


he  was  able  to  spread  into  various  lands 
and  so  to  organize  the  tribes  and  na- 
tions which  at  last  gave  us  civilization 
and  history. 

A  new  weapon  now  came  about 
through  warfare.  Man  has  been  a  sav- 
age fighting  animal  through  pretty 
much  all  his  history,  but  while  he  tried 
to  kill  the  other  fellow,  he  objected  to 
being  killed  himself. 

Therefore  he  took  to  wearing  armor. 
During  the  Middle  Ages  he  piled  on 
more  and  more,  until  at  last  one  of  the 
knights  could  hardly  walk,  and  it  took 
a  strong  horse  to  carry  him.  When 
such  a  one  fell,  he  went  over  with  a 
crash  like  a  tin-peddler's  wagon,  and 
had  to  be  picked  up  again  by  some  of 
his  men.  Such  armor  would  turn  most 
of  the  arrows.  Hence  invention  got  at 
work  again  and  produced  the  Cross- 
bow and  its  bolt.  We  have  already 
learned  how  the  tough  skin  of  animals 
brought  about  the  bow ;  now  we  see 
that  man's  artificial  iron  skin  caused 
the  invention  of  the  crossbow. 

\Miat  was  the  Crossbow  ?  It  was 
the  first  real  hand-shooting  machine. 
It  was  another  big  step  toward  the  day 
of  the  rifle.  The  idea  was  simple 
enough.  V/ooden  bows  had  already 
been  made  as  strong  as  the  strongest 
man  could  pull,  and  they  wished  for 
still  stronger  ones — steel  ones.  How 
could  they  pull  them?  At  first  they 
mounted  them  upon  a  wooden  frame 
and  rested  one  end  on  the  shoulder  for 
a  brace.  Then  they  took  to  pressing 
the  other  end  against  the  ground,  and 
using  both  hands.  Next,  it  was  a 
bright  idea  to  put  a  stirrup  on  this  end, 
in  order  to  hold  it  with  the  foot. 

Still  they  were  not  satisfied.  "Strong- 
er, stronger!"  they  clamored;  "give  us 
bows  which  will  kill  the  enemy  farther 
away  than  he  can  shoot  at  us !  If  we 
cannot  set  such  bows  with  both  arms 
let  us  try  our  backs !"  So  they  fastened 
"belt-claws"  to  their  stout  girdles  and 
tugged  the  bow  strings  into  place  with 
their  back  and  leg  muscles. 

Who    First    Discovered    the    Power    of 
Gunpowder  ? 
Probably   the   Chinese,   although   all 


authorities  do  not  agree.  Strange, 
is  it  not,  that  a  race  still  using 
crossbows  in  its  army  should  have 
known  of  explosives  long  before  the 
Christian  Era,  and  perhaps  as  far  back 
as  the  time  of  Moses  ?  Here  is  a  pas- 
sage from  their  ancient  Centoo  Code 
of  Laws:  "The  magistrate  shall  not 
n^ake  war  with  any  deceitful  machine, 
or  with  poisoned  weapons,  or  with  can- 
nons or  guns,  or  any  kind  of  firearms." 
liut  China  might  as  well  have  been 
Mars  before  the  age  of  travel.  Our 
civilization  had  to  work  out  the  prob- 
lem for  itself. 

It  all  began  through  j^laying  with 
fire.  It  was  desired  to  throw  fire  on 
an  enemy's  buildings,  or  his  ships,  and 
so  destroy  them. 

Burning  torches  were  thrown  by  ma- 
chines, made  of  cords  and  springs,  over 
a  city  wall,  and  it  became  a  great  study 
to  find  the  best  burning  compound  with 
^vhich  to  cover  these  torches.  One  was 
needed  wdiich  would  blaze  with  a  great 
flame  and  was  hard  to  put  out. 

Hence  the  early  chemists  made  all 
possible  mixtures  of  pitch,  resin, 
naphtha,  sulphur,  saltpeter,  etc. ; 
"Greek  fire"  w^as  one  of  the  most 
famous. 

Many  of  these  were  made  in  the 
monasteries.  The  monks  were  pretty 
much  the  only  people  in  those  days 
with  time  for  study,  and  two  of  these 
shaven-headed  scientists  now  had  a 
chance  to  enter  history.  Roger  Bacon 
was  the  first.  One  night  he  was  work- 
ing his  diabolical  mixture  in  the  stone- 
walled laboratory,  and  watched,  by  the 
flickering  lights,  the  progress  of  a  cer- 
tain interesting  combination  for  which 
he  had  used  pure  instead  of  imjxirc 
saltpeter. 

Suddenly  there  w^as  an  explosion, 
shattering  the  chemical  apparatus  and 
probably  alarming  the  whole  building. 
That  explosion  proved  the  new  com- 
bination was  not  fitted  for  use  as  a 
thrown  fire ;  it  also  showed  the  exist- 
ence of  terrible  forces  far  beyond  the 
power  of  all  bow-springs,  even  those 
made  of  steel. 

Roger  Bacon  thus  discovered  what 
was  practically  gunpowder,  as  far  back 


THE  FIRST  REAL  FIRE  ARMS 


4.") 


THE        KENTUCKY     RIFLE        WITH  ITS   FLINT-LOCK    WAS    ACCURATE    BUT   MUST   BE    MUZZLE-CHARGED 


as  the  thirteenth  century,  and  left  wri- 
tings in  which  he  recorded  mixing  11.2 
parts  of  the  saltpeter,  29.4  of  charcoal, 
and  29  of  sulphur.  This  was  the  for- 
mula developed  as  the  result  of  his  in- 
vestigations. 

Berthokl  Schwartz,  a  monk  of  Frei- 
burg, studied  Bacon's  works  and  car- 
ried on  dangerous  experiments  of  his 
own,  so  that  he  is  ranked  with  Bacon 
for  the  honor.  He  was  also  the  first 
one  to  rouse  the  interest  of  Europe  in 
the  great  discovery. 

And  then  began  the  first  crude, 
clumsy  efforts  at  gunmaking.  Firearms 
were  born. 

Hand  bombards  and  culverins  were 
among  the  early  types.  Some  of  these 
were  so  heavy  that  a  forked  sup])ort 
had  to  be  driven  into  the  ground,  and 
two  men  were  needed,  one  to  hold  and 
aim,  the  other  to  prime  and  fire. 

Improvements  kept  coming,  however. 


Guns  were  lightened  and  bettered  in 
shape.  Somebody  thought  of  putting 
a  flash  pan,  for  the  powder,  by  the 
side  of  the  touch-hole,  and  now  it  was 
decided  to  fasten  the  slow-match  in 
a  movable  cock  upon  the  barrel,  and 
ignite  it  with  a  trigger.  These  matches 
were  fuses  of  some  slow-burning  fiber, 
like  tow,  which  would  keep  a  spark  for 
a  considerable  time.  Formerly  they 
liad  to  be  carried  separately,  but  the 
new  arrangement  was  a  great  con- 
venience and  made  the  match-lock.  The 
cock,  being  curved  like  a  snake,  was 
called  the  "serpentine." 

About  the  time  sportsmen  were 
through  wondering  at  the  convenience 
of  the  match-lock,  they  began  to  rcali/.e 
its  inc(jnvenience.  They  found  that 
they  burned  up  a  great  deal  of  fuse, 
and  were  hard  to  keep  lighted.  Both 
statements  were  true,  so  inventors 
rnckcd    their    brains    again    for    some- 


46 


\VH\    WE  CALL  THLA\   PLSTOLS 


thing  better.  They  all  knew  yuu  could 
bring  sparks  with  tlint  and  steel,  and 
that  seemed  an  idea  worth  working  on. 
A  Nuremberg  inventor,  in  15 15,  hit  on 
the  wheel-lock.  In  this  a  notched  steel 
wheel  was  wound  up  with  a  key  like  a 
clock.  Flint  or  pyrite  was  held  against 
the  jagged  edge  of  the  w'heel  by  the 
pressure  of  the  serjientine.  You  pulled 
the  trigger,  then  "whirr,"  the  wheel 
revolved,  a  stream  of  sparks  flew  off 
into  the  flash-pan,  and  the  gun  w^as 
discharged. 

This  gim  worked  beautifully,  but  it 
was  expensive.  Wealthy  sportsmen 
could  afford  them,  and  so  for  the  first 
time  firearms  began  to  be  used  for 
hunting.  Some  of  these  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  century  nabobs  had  such 
guns  of  beautiful  workmanship,  so 
v.Tought  and  carved  and  inlaid,  that 
they  must  have  cost  a  small  fortune. 
You  will  find  them  in  many  large 
niuseums  to  this  day. 

But  now  the  robbers  had  their  turn. 
There  are  two  stories  of  the  inven- 
tion of  the  flint-lock.  Both  deal  with 
robbers,  both  have  good  authority,  and 
both  may  be  true,  for  inventions  soine- 
times  are  made  independently  in  dif- 
ferent places. 

One  story  runs  that  the  flint-lock 
which  was  often  styled  "Lock  a  la 
i\liquelet,"  from  the  Spanish  word, 
"Miquelitos"  —  marauders  —  told  its 
origin  in  its  name.  The  other  is,  that 
the  flint-lock  was  invented  in  Holland 
by  gangs  of  thieves,  whose  principal 
business  was  to  steal  poultry. 

In  either  case  the  explanation  is 
easy.  The  match-lock  showed  its  fire 
at  night  and  wouldn't  do  for  thieves, 
the  wheel-lock  was  too  expensive,  so 
again  necessity  became  the  mother  of 
a   far-reaching  invention. 

Evervbodv    knows    what    the    flint- 


lock was  like,  "^'ou  simply  fastened  a 
Hake  of  flint  in  the  cock  and  sna])]ied 
it  against  a  steel  ]ilate.  This  struck  olT 
sparks  which  fell  into  the  flash-pan  and 
lircd  the  charge. 

It  was  so  practical  that  it  became 
the  form  of  gun  for  all  uses ;  thus  gun- 
niaking  began  to  be  a  big  industry. 
Invented  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
ti'ry,  it  was  used  by  the  hunters  and 
soldiers  of  the  next  two  hundred  years. 
Old  people  remember  when  flint-locks 
w^ere  plentiful  everywhere.  In  fact, 
tb.ey  are  still  being  manufactured  and 
are  sold  in  some  parts  of  Africa  and 
the  Orient.  One  factory  in  Birming- 
ham, England,  is  said  to  produce  a1)out 
tv>-elve  hundred  weekly,  and  Belgium 
shares  in  their  manufacture.  Some  of 
the  Arabs  use  them  to  this  day  in  the 
form  of  strange-looking  guns  with 
long,  slender  muzzles  and  very  light, 
curved  stocks. 

There  were  freak  inventors  in  the 
flint-lock  period  just  as  there  are  to- 
day. Some  of  them  wrestled  with  the 
problem  of  repeating  guns,  and  put  to- 
gether a  number  of  barrels,  even  seven 
iti  the  case  of  one  carbine.  Others  tried 
revolving  chambers,  like  our  revolvers, 
and  still  others,  magazine  stocks.  Pis- 
tols came  into  use  in  many  interesting 
shapes,  but  these  were  too  practical  to 
be  considered  freaks. 

Pistols,  by  the  way,  are  named  from 
the  town  of  Pistola.  Italy,  where  they 
are  said  to  have  been  invented  and 
first  used. 

We  must  not  forget  that  rifling  was 
invented  about  the  time  that  the  wheel- 
lock  appeared,  and  had  a  great  deal 
to  do  with  the  improvement  of  shoot- 
ing. Austrians  claim  its  invention  for 
Casper  Zollner,  of  Vienna,  who  cut 
straight  grooves  in  the  barrel's  bore. 
His  jrun  is  said  to  have  been  used  for 


THE  MODERN  AUTOMATIC  RIFLE 


the  first  time  in  1498,  but  the  ItaHans 
seem  10  have  still  better  warrant  as 
these  significant  words  appear  in  old 
Latin  Italian,  under  date  of  July  28th, 
I -1 76,  in  the  inventory  of  the  fortress 
of  Guastalla :  "Also  one  iron  gun  made 
with  a  twist  like  a  snail  shell."  The 
rifling  made  the  bullet  spin  like  a  top 
as  it  flew  through  the  air,  thus  greatly 
improving  its  precision. 

In  the  year  1807  the  Rev.  Alexander 
John  Forsythe,  LL.D.,  got  his  patent 
papers  for  something  far  better  than 
even  the  steady  old  flint.  He  had  in- 
vented the  percussion  system.  In  some 
form  this  has  been  used  ever  since. 
\\'hich  is  to  say  that  when  the  ham- 
mer of  your  gun  falls,  it  doesn't  ex- 
plode the  powder,  although  it  seems 
to.  Instead  it  sets  ofif  a  tiny  portion 
of  a  very  sensitive  chemical  compound 
called  the  "primer,"  and  the  explosion 
of  this  "primer"  makes  the  powder  go 
off.      Of    course,    the   two    explosions 


come  so  swiftly  that  your  ear  hears 
only  a  single  bang. 

Primers  were  tried  in  different  forms 
called  "detonators,"  but  the  familiar 
little  copper  cap  was  the  most  popular. 
No  need  to  describe  them.  ^Millions  are 
still  made  to  be  used  on  old-fashioned 
nipple  guns,  even  in  this  day  of  fixed 
ammunition. 

But  now  we  come  to  another  great 
development,  the  Breech-loader.- 

Perhaps  you  have  had  to  handle  an 
old  muzzle-loader.  It  was  all  right  so 
long  as  you  knew  of  nothing  better, 
but  think  of  it  now  that  you  have 
your  beautiful  breech-loader.  Do  you 
remember  how  sometimes  you  over- 
loaded, and  the  kick  made  your 
shoulder  lame  for  a  week?  Or  how, 
when  you  were  excited  you  shot  away 
your  ramrod?  The  gun  fouled  too, 
and  was  hard  to  clean,  the  nipples 
broke  off,  the  caps  split,  and  the 
breeches  rusted  so  that  vou  had  to  take 


TirE    MUDr.K.N     SPOkTbMAN    Willi    HIS    At  TD-MA  lIC    KULli     li    I'Ktl'AKhD    tuK    ALL    LMtKoh.NL  IKS 


48 


HOW  THE  FIRST  AMERICAN  GUN  WAS  MADE 


THE   FIRST   AMERICAN   MADE   GUXS 


them  to  a  gunsmith.  Yes,  in  spite  of 
the  game  it  got,  it  was  a  lot  of  trouble, 
now  you  come  to  think  of  it.  How  dif- 
ferent it  all  is  now ! 

Breech-loaders  were  hardly  new. 
King  Henry  MH  of  England,  he  of 
the  many  wives,  had  a  match-lock 
arquebus  of  this  type  dated  1537. 
Henry  I\'  of  France  even  invented 
one  for  his  army,  and  others  worked 
a  little  on  the  idea  from  time  to  time. 
But  it  wasn't  until  fixed  ammunition 
came  into  use  that  the  breech-loader 
really  came  to  stay — and  that  was  only 
the  other  day.  You  remember  that  the 
Civil  War  began  with  muzzle-loaders 
and   ended  w'ith  breech-loaders. 

Houiller,  the  French  gunsmith,  hit 
on  the  great  idea  of  the  cartridge.  If 
you  were  going  to  use  powder,  ball  and 


percussion  primer  to  get  your  game, 
why  not  put  them  all  into  a  neat, 
handy,  gas-tight  case? 

Two  men,  a  smith  and  his  son,  l)oth 
named  Eli])halet  Remington,  in  1816, 
were  working  busily  one  day  at  their 
forge  in  beautiful  Ilion  Gorge,  when, 
so  tradition  says,  the  son  asked  his 
father  for  money  to  buy  a  rifle,  and 
met  with  a  refusal.  The  request  was 
natural  for  the  surrounding  hills  w^ere 
full  of  game.  The  father  must  have 
had  his  own  reasons  for  refusing,  but 
it  started  the  manufacture  of  guns  in 
America. 

Eliphalet,  Jr.,  closed  his  firm  jaws 
tightly,  and  began  collecting  scrap  iron 
on  his  owm  account.  This  he  welded 
skillfully  into  a  gun-barrel,  walked 
fifteen  miles  to  Utica  to  have  it  rifled, 


HOW  AMMUNITION    IS    MADE 


49 


TVPKS    UF   CARTRIDGES 


A    VISIT    TO    A    CARTRIDGE    FACTORY 


and  finally  had  a  weaoon  of  which  he 
might  well  be  proud. 

In  reality,  it  was  such  a  very  good 
gun  that  soon  the  neighbors  ordered 
others  like  it, and  before  long  the  Rem- 
ington forge  found  itself  hard  at  work 


grayish  pasty  mass  is  wet  fulminate 
of  mercury.  Suppose  it  should  dry  a 
trifle  too  rapidly.  It  would  be  the  last 
thing  you  ever  did  suppose,  for  there 
is  force  enough  in  that  double  handful 
to    blow    its   'surroundings    into    frag- 


to  meet  the  increasing  demand.  Sev- 
eral times  each  week  the  stalwart 
young  manufacturer  packed  a  load  of 
gun-barrels  upon  his  back,  and  tramped 
all  the  way  to  Utica  where  a  gunsmith 
rifled  and  finished  them.  At  this  time 
there  were  no  real  gun-factories  in 
America,  although  gunsmiths  were  lo- 
cated in  most  of  the  larger  towns.  All 
gun-barrels  were  imported  from  Eng- 
land or  Europe. 

One  of  the  first  shocks  you  get  when 
you  start  your  visit  through  a  car- 
tridge factory  is  the  matter-of-fact  way 
in  which  the  operatives,  girls  in  many 
cases,  handle  the  most  terrible  com- 
pounds. \Vc  stop,  for  example,  where 
they  arc  making  primers  to  go  in  the 
head  of  your  loaded  shell,  in  order 
that  it  may  not  miss  fire  when  the 
bunch  of  quail  whirrs  suddenly  into  tlic 
air   from  the  sheltering  grasses.     Tlinl 


ments.  You  edge  away  a  little,  and 
no  wonder,  but  the  girl  who  handles  it 
shows  no  fear  as  she  deftly  but  care- 
fully presses  it  into  moulds  which  sep- 
arate it  into  the  proper  sizes  for  pri- 
mers. She  knows  that  in  its  present 
moist  condition  it  cannot  explode. 

Or,   perhaps,    we    may   be    watching 
one    of    the    many    loading    machines. 


I  WEIGHING    PUL 


50 


TESTING    MATERIALS   AND  PRODUCTS 


'J'here  is  a  certain  suggcstiveness  in 
the  way  the  machines  are  separated  by 
partitions.  The  man  in  charge  takes 
a  small  carrier  of  powder  from  a  case 
i'l  the  outside  wall  and  shuts  the  door, 
then  carefully  empties  it  into  the  reser- 
\uir  of  his  machine,  and  watches  alert- 
ly while  it  packs  the  proper  portions 
into  the  waiting  shells.  He  looks  like 
a  careful  man,  and  needs  to  be.  You 
do  not  stand  too  close. 

The  empty  carrier  then  passes 
through  a  little  door  at  the  side  of 
the  building,  and  drops  into  the  yawn- 
ing mouth  of  an  automatic  tube.  In 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye  it  appears 
in  front  of  the  operator  in  one  of  the 
distributing  stations,  where  it  is  re- 
filled, and  returned  to  its  proper  load- 
ing machine,  in  order  to  keep  the  ma- 
chine going  at  a  perfectly  uniform 
rate ;  while  at  the  same  time  it  allows 
but  a  minimum  amount  of  powder  to 
remain  in  the  building  at  any  moment. 
Each  machine   has   but   just   sufficient 


powder  in  its  hoi)per  to  run  vmtil  a 
new  supply  can  reach  it.  Greater 
precaution  than  this  cannot  be  imag- 
ined, illustrating  as  it  does  that  no 
efifort  has  been  spared  to  protect  the 
lives   of   the   operators. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  in  an  outi)Ut 
of  something  like  four  million  per  day, 
every  cartridge  is  perfect. 

Such  things  are  not  accidental.  The 
secret  is,   inspection. 

Let  us  see  what  that  means.  It 
means  laboratory  tests  to  start  with. 
Here  are  brought  many  samples  of  the 
body  paper,  wad  paper,  metals,  water- 
proofing mixture,  fulminate  of  mer- 
cury, sulphur,  chlorate  of  potash,  an- 
timony sulphide,  powder,  wax,  and 
other  ingredients,  and  even  the  oper- 
ating materials  such  as  coal,  grease, 
oil,  and  soaps.  In  the  laboratory  v^-e 
see  expert  chemists  and  metallurgists 
V  ith  their  test-tubes,  scales,  Bunsen 
burners,  retorts,  tensile  machines, 
microscopes,  and  other  scientific  look- 


ing  apparatus,  busily  hunting  for 
defects. 

For  example,  one  marker  is  examin- 
ing a  supply  of  cupro-nickel,  such  as 
is  used  in  jacketing  certain  bullets. 
A  corner  of  each  strip  is  first  bent 
over  at  right  angles,  then  back  in  the 
other  direction  until  it  is  doubled,  then 
straightened.  It  does  not  show  the 
slightest  sign  of  breaking  or  cracking, 
in  spite  of  the  severe  treatment,  there- 
fore it  is  perfect.  Let  but  the  least 
flaw  appear,  and  the  shipment  is  re- 
jected. 

Two  large  iron  cylinders  descend  in 
the  center,  coming  down  through  the 
ceiling  from  above ;  we  are  invited  to 
look  through  an  open  port  in  one  of 
these. 

We  sec  nothing  but  the  whitened 
opposite  wall,  against  which  a  light 
burns. 

It  appears  absolutely  empty,  though 
within  it  is  raining  such  a  swift 
shower  of   invisible   metal   that   if   we 


were  to  stretch  our  hands  into  the 
apparently  vacant  space  they  would 
be  torn   from  our  arms. 

A  large  water  tank  below  is  churned 
into  foam  with  the  impact  of  the  fall- 
ing shot,  and  as  we  look  downward 
we  make  out  finally  the  haze  of  mo- 
tion. It  is  so  interesting  that  we  take 
the  elevator  and  rise  ten  stories  to 
the  source  of  the  shower. 

Here  high  in  the  air  are  the  large 
caldrons  where  many  pigs  of  lead, 
with  the  proper  alloy,  are  melted  into 
a  sort  of  metallic  soup.  This  is  fed 
into  small  compartments  containing 
sieves  or  screens,  through  the  meshes 
of  which  the  shining  drops  appear  and 
tlien    plunge   swiftly   downward. 

But  this  only  begins  the  process. 
Taken  from  the  water  tanks  and 
hoisted  up  again,  the  shot  pellets,  in 
a  second  journey  down,  through  com- 
l)licatcd  devices,  are  sorted,  tuml)lcd, 
jtolishcfl,  graded,  coated  with  graphite, 
and  finally  stored. 


Lea 


The    pictures    sliown    in    this    sforv    were    prepared    especially    to    illustrate    this    story    of    "II 
:arneu  to   Shoot"  by  the   Searchlight  Library   for   the   Keniingtoii   Arms  Company. 


ow     Man 


FORGING   A  MONSTER   GUN 


Photri  I,:.-  II 
This  photograph  shows  gun  ingots  after  being  "  stripped  "  and  "  cored. 


Photo.by  Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 

This  photograph  shows  a  gun  ingot  in  the  process  of  being  forged  under  forging  press. 


THINGS  TO   KNOW  ABOUT  A   BIG    GUN 


53 


11 ii.\  Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 

This  photograph  shows  a  gun  being  fired  at  the  Proving  Grounds  for  test. 


The  Parts  of  a  Big*  Gun 


Before  going  into  a  description  of 
the  manufacture  of  a  big  gun  it  would 
be  well  to  understand  the  following 
definitions  : 

The  "breech"  of  a  gun  is  its  rear- 
end,  or  that  end  into  which  the  pro- 
jectile and  powder  charge  are  loaded. 

The  "muzzle"  of  a  gun  is  its  for- 
ward end. 

By  "calibre"  is  meant  the  inside 
diameter  of  the  gun  in  inches.  A 
5-inch  gun  is  one  of  "minor  calibre," 
and  one  of  14-inches  a  gun  of  "major 
'pJibre." 

The  length  of  a  gun  is  never  ex- 
[jressed  in  inches  or  feet,  but  in  the 
number  of  times  that  its  calibre  is 
divisible  into  its  length ;  thus,  when 
wc  say  a  12-inch  50-calibre  gun,  we 
mean  a  gun  of  12  inches  in  diajneter, 
and    12  times   50,  or  600  inches   long. 

The  "bore"  is  the  hole  extending 
tlirnugh    the   center   of   thr   gim,    from 


the  rear  face  of  the  liner  to  its  for- 
ward end. 

The  "powder  chamber"  is  the  rear 
part  of  the  bore,  and  extends  from  the 
face  of  the  breech  plug  when  closed 
to  the  point  where  the  "rifling"  begins. 
The  powder  chamber  is  slightly  larger 
in  diameter  than  the  rest  of  the  bore. 

The  "rifling"  is  the  name  given  to 
the  spiral  grooves  which  are  cut  into 
the  surface  of  the  bore  of  the  gun, 
and  give  to  the  projectile  its  rotary 
motion   when   the  gun  is  fired. 

With  the  advent  of  "iron-clads" 
and  heavily  armored  fortresses,  it 
became  necessary  to  increase  the 
power  of  the  guns  in  use,  until  to- 
day a  14-inch  gun  of  45  calibres  fires 
a  projectile  weighing  1400  pounds, 
with  an  initial  velocity  of  2600  feet 
per  second.  An  idea  of  this  initial  ve- 
locity may  be  lx;ttcr  obtained  by  com- 
p.'irison    when   vou    rrrdi/c   thai    a    Iraiti 


54 


HOW  A   BIG   GUN   WOULD   LOOK 


•  E 

— . 

* 

==1 

-, — ■ — 

~Tif-         -^  - 

— ■ — '. 1 

[  [ 

31=:==^ 

Sketch  Showing  Construction  of  a  Modern  "  lUiill  u|)  "  (nin. 


g^oinsj  sixty  miles  an  hour  is  only 
traveling  at  the  rate  of  88  feet  per 
second.  Now.  in  order  to  produce 
such  wonderful  power  in  a  gun,  great 
1  pressure  must  be  generated  in  the 
bore,  and  it  was  soon  found  that  a 
one-piece  gun,  whether  cast  or  forged, 
could  not  withstand  such  pressures. 

To  begin  with,  we  may  consider 
this  one-piece  gun,  or  any  gun,  as  a 
tube  which  must  withstand  a  great 
pressure  from  within,  so  that  when  a 
gun  is  designed  care  must  be  taken 
to  see  that  the  material  from  which  it 
is  constructed  is  strong  enough  to 
withstand  this  pressure.  And  not 
only  must  the  gun  be  sufficiently 
strong,  but  it  must  not  be  too  heavy, 
so  that  you  see  you  cannot  go  on  for- 
ever increasing  the  thickness  of  the 
walls  of  this  tube.  Besides,  it  is  gen- 
erally acknowledged  that  a  simple  tube 
or  cylinder  cannot  be  made  with  walls 
of  sufficient  thickness  to  withstand 
from  within  a  continued  pressure  per 
square  inch  greater  than  the  tenacity 
of  a  square-inch  bar  of  the  same  ma- 
terial ;  in  other  words,  if  the  tensile 
strength  of  a  metal  is  only  twelve 
tons  per  square  inch,  no  gim  of  that 
metal,  however  thick  its  walls,  could 
withstand  a  pressure  of  twenty  tons 
per  square  inch,  and  the  modern  big 
guns  are  tested  at  that  great  a  pres- 
sure. And  if  we  look  further  into  this 
matter  of  pressures  we  find  that  when 
a  gun  is  fired  the  pressure  exerts  itself 
ill  two  ways ;  it  tends  to  burst  the  gun 
longitudinally  or  down  the  middle,  and 
•,i  tends  to  pull  the  gun  apart  in  the 
direction  of  its  length.  Of  course, 
some  method  of  strengthening  this 
one-piece  gun  was  sought  after,  with 
the  result  that  to-day  guns  are  either 
"built-up"  or  "unre-ivound." 

A  "built-up"  gun  is  one  made  of 
several  layers,  each  layer  being  sepa- 


rately constructed  and  then  assembled 
together.  The  order  of  assemblage 
differs  somewhat  with  the  different 
calibres,  but  the  method  of  assemblage 
is  essentially  the  same,  that  is,  the  out- 
side layers  are  heated  and  shrunk  on 
the  inner  ones.  This  question  will  be 
treated  at  greater  length  later  on. 

A  "wire-wound"  gun  is  one  in 
which  the  necessary  additional 
strength  is  obtained  by  winding  wire 
around  an  inner  tube  of  steel,  each 
layer  being  wound  with  a  different 
tension  of  the  wire ;  this  type  of  gun 
has  found  great  favor  with  foreign 
manufacturers.  In  this  country,  how- 
ever, the  "built-up"  system  is  used  al- 
most exclusively,  and  so  this  descrijv 
tion  will  deal  with  the  manufacture  of 
a  "built-up"  gun. 

A  modern  "built-up"  gun  is  com- 
posed of  a  liner,  a  tube,  a  jacket  and 
hoops. 

The  liner  is  in  one  piece  and  extends 
the  entire  length  of  the  bore  and  car- 
ries the  "rifling"  and  the  powder 
chamber. 

The  tube  is  in  one  piece  and  en- 
velops the  liner  for  its  entire  length. 
Formerly  the  tube  carried  the  "rifling" 
and  powder  chamber,  but  due  to  the 
wearing  out  of  the  "rifling"  with  con- 
stant firing,  a  liner  was  decided  on,  so 
that  now  when  the  "rifling"  becomes 
worn,  the  liner  can  be  removed  and 
a   new   one  substituted. 

The  jacket  is  usually  in  two  pieces 
and  is  shrunk  on  the  tube ;  it  extends 
the  entire  length,  and  its  rear  end  is 
th.readed  in  the  inside  for  the  attach- 
ment of  the  "breech  bushing." 

Hoops  are  shrunk  on  over  the 
jc'.cket  and  in  a  big  gun  are  sometimes 
as  many  as  six  or  seven  in  number. 

The  liner,  tube,  jacket  and  hoops 
are  made  of  the  finest  quality  of  open 
hearth  steel,  and  the  steel  must  con- 


IF  YOU   WERE  TO   CUT   IT   IN   TWO 


00 


A,  hoop;  B.  hoop;  C,  jacket;  D,  tube;  E,  einer;  F,  hoop. 


7  Ill's  [)hotograph  shows  a  mould  for  a  '^un  in; 

form  to  specifications  set  by  the  gov- 
crnnient. 

The  chemical  composition  having 
been  determined,  the  necessary  ele- 
ments are  weighed  out  and  the  whole 
charged  into  an  open  hearth  furnace. 
When  the  furnace  is  ready  to  be 
t,:pj>efl  the  molten  metal  is  run  into  a 
l.'irge  larjle,  which  in  turn  is  taken  l)y 
.1  crane  to  the  casting  pit,  where  the 
Kionld    is    filled.      'I'he    ingots    for    the 


Photo  by  lU'thlchem  Slccl  Co. 
;ot  under  hydraulic  press  for  fluid  compression. 

large  calibre  guns  run  from  42-inch 
to  48-inch  in  diameter,  and  after 
being  poured  they  are  immediately  run 
under  a  hydraulic  press,  where  they 
are  subjected  to  a  pressure  of  about 
six  tons  per  square  inch  to  drive  out 
the  gases,  and  then  lowered  to  about 
1500  pounds  j)ressure  ])er  s(|uare  inch 
for  a  certain  length  of  time  during 
tl'.e  cooling.  This  pressure  tends  lo 
make  llic   ingot    solid,  by  expelling   the 


.)(i 


IAKIMj    THIi    BORl:    0\     A    BlU    GUN 


gases,  which  would  cause  blow-holes, 
and  by  preventing  "piping"  and  "seg- 
regation." When  a  metal  cools,  the 
top  and  sides  cool  first,  and  this  outer 
layer  shrinks  and  pulls  away  from  the 
centre,  with  the  result  that  a  cavity  or 
"pipe"  would  be  formed,  but  the  hy- 
draulic pressure  forces  lluid  metal  into 
this  cavity  and  so  prevents  the  "pipe." 
The  cooling  also  causes  the  various 
elements  to  solidify  separately,  and 
thev    tend    to    break    awav    from    the 


and  other  impurities,  rise  to  the  top. 
The  govermnent  specifications  re- 
quire that  there  shall  be  a  2o7<:  dis- 
card from  the  upper  end  and  a  ^% 
discard  from  the  lower  end.  The  dis- 
card having  been  cut  off,  the  ingot  is 
"cored,"  that  is,  its  centre  is  bored 
out,  the  diameter  of  the  hole  depend- 
ing on  the   size  of  the   ingot. 

The  ingot  is  now  ready  for  the 
"forge,"  and  on  its  reccijn  in  the  forge 
shop   it   is   placed   in   a    furnace   to   be 


Photo  by  Bethlehem  Steel  C 

This  photograph  shows  gun  ingot  in  boring  mill  being  cored. 


mass  and  collect  at  the  centre ;  this  is 
called  "segregation,"  and  is  also  par- 
tially prevented  by  fluid  compression. 
.\  solid  ingot,  however,  is  obtained, 
and  this  is  absolutely  necessary. 

After  the  ingot  has  cooled  suf- 
ficiently it  is  "stripped,"  that  is.  it  i^ 
removed  from  the  mould,  and  then  it 
is  sent  to  the  shop  to  have  the  "dis- 
card." or  extra  length,  cut  off.  When 
the  ingot  is  cast,  an  extra  amount  of 
metal  is  poured  into  the  mould  to  per- 
mit this  discard,  the  theory  being  that 
the  poorer  metal,  together  with  gases 


heated ;  and  here  great  care  must  be 
exercised  to  prevent  setting  up  any 
additional  strains  in  the  ingot.  When 
the  ingot  was  cooling  just  after  cast- 
ing the  metal  tended  to  flow  from  the 
centre;  the  interior  is  still  in  a  con- 
dition of  strain,  and  if  the  cold  ingot 
is  now  placed  in  a  hot  furnace,  cracks 
are  apt  to  form  in  the  centre,  causing 
the  forging  to  later  break  in  service. 
However,  the  ingot  having  been 
properly  heated,  it  is  ready  for  either 
the  forging  hammer  or  the  press.  The 
present-day     practice,     though,     is     to 


HOW  THE   GUN   TUBE   IS   TEMPERED 


forge  the  ingot  under  a  press  forge, 
as  the  working  of  the  metal  causes  a 
certain  flow,  and  as  a  certain  amount 
of  time  is  necessary  for  this  flow,  the 
continued  pressure  and  slow  motion 
of  the  press  allows  the  molecules  of 
the  metal  to  adjust  themselves  more 
easily,  and  a  better  and  more  homo- 
geneous forged  ingot  is  produced 
than  if  the  forging  had  been  done 
with  a  hammer. 

When  forging  a  hollow  ingot,  a 
mandrel,  merely  a  cylindrical  steel 
shaft,  is  placed  through  the  hole  in 
the  ingot  and  the  ingot  forged  on  the 
mandrel,  thereby  not  only  is  the  out- 
side diameter  of  the  ingot  decreased, 
but  the  length  of  the  ingot  is  in- 
creased. The  usual  practice  is  to  con- 
tinue the  forging  until  the  original 
thickness  of  the  walls  of  the  ingot  is 
decreased  one-half  and  until  the  ingot 
is  within  two  inches  of  the  required 
finished  diameters.     The  ingot  is  now 


known  as  a  "forging,"  and  the  lower 
end  of  each  ingot  as  cast  will  be  the 
breech  end  of  the  forging  that  is  made 
from  it. 

The  next  process  is  that  of  "anneal- 
ing." This  consists  in  heating  the 
forging  to  a  red  heat  and  then  al- 
lowing it  to  cool  very  slowly,  and  is 
usually  done  by  hauling  the  fires  in 
the  furnace  after  the  correct  temper- 
ature has  been  attained  and  permit- 
ting both  to  cool  ofl^"  together.  This 
process  is  to  relieve  the  strains  set  u]) 
in  the  metal  during  forging,  and  fur- 
ther, it  alters  the  molecular  condition 
of  the  steel,  making  a  finer  and  more 
homogeneous  forging. 

After  annealing,  the  forging  is 
ready  to  go  to  the  machine  shop  to  be 
rough  bored  and  turned.  The  forging 
is  set  in  a  lathe,  the  breech  end  being 
held  by  jaws  on  the  face-plate  and 
the  muzzle  end  by  a  "pot-centre."  a 
large   iron   ring  having   several   radial 


I'hiiiij  liy   hciiiU'lK'in  Sii-tl  r 

i  lii.^  jihotograph  >ho\vs  n  gun  lube  ready  lu  Ik-  luwircd  iiiIm  nil  hath   for  "  nil   tcin|H-riiig." 


58    PUTTING   THE   PARTS  OF  A   ''BUILT=UP"   GUN   TOGETHER 


arms  screwed  thrt)ugh  it.  The  latiic 
can  now  be  turned  and  the  forginj^f 
centered  by  screwing  in  or  out  on  the 
jaws  of  the  face-plate  or  the  radial 
arms  of  the  "pot-centre."  When  cen- 
tered, several  surfaces  arc  turned  on 
the  forging  for  "steady  rests"  and 
then  all  is  in  readiness  for  the  turning 
and  boring. 

In  both  operations  of  "turning"  and 
"boring,"  the  work  revolves  while  the 
cutting  tools  are  fed  along.  Turning 
is  very  simple  and  usually  several 
tools  are  cutting  at  the  same  time,  but 
boring  is  a  more  delicate  operation,  be- 
cause the  workman  cannot  see  what 
he  is  doing.  .\nd  in  boring,  either  a 
"hog  bit"  or  a  "packed  bit"  is  used;  a 
"hog  bit"  is  a  half  cylinder  of  cast  iron 
fitted  with  one  cutting  tool  and  used 
for  rough  cuts,  while  a  "packed  bit"  is 
a  full  cylinder  of  wood  with  metal 
framing  and  carrying  two  tools  180'' 
apart  and  used  for  finishing  cuts. 

Tlie  forging,  having  been  rough  ma- 
chined, is  now  ready  to  receive  its  neat 
treatment  in  order  to  give  to  the  steel 
its  required  physical  characteristics. 
Every  piece  of  steel  used  in  gun  manu- 
facture must  conform  to  certain  speci- 
fications as  regard  both  its  physical 
and  chemical  characteristics!  The 
chemical  analysis  was  made  at  the 
time  the  ingot  was  cast ;  now  for  the 
treatment  of  the  forging,  prior  to  the 
physical  test  as  to  its  tensile  strength, 
clastic  limit,  elongation  and  contrac- 
tion. 

The  "tensile  strength"  of  a  metal  is 
tlie  unit-stress  required  to  break  that 
metal  into  parts.  If  a  round  bar  ten 
inches  in  cross-section  area  will  frac- 
ture under  a  strain  of  120  tons,  its  ten- 
sile strength  is  120  -^  10  or  12  tons 
per  square  inch.  Tensile  strength  is 
usually  expressed  in  pounds  per 
s(]uare  inch. 

The  "elastic  limit"  of  a  metal  is  the 
unit-stress  required  to  first  nroduce  a 
permanent  deformation  of  the  metal. 
If  a  bar  of  metal  be  subjected  to  an  in- 
creasing strain,  up  to  a  certain  point 
that  metal  will  be  perfectly  elastic, 
resuming  its  normal  shape  when  the 
strain  is  removed  :  at  tlie  first  perma- 


nent set  or  deformation,  however,  tiic 
elastic  limit  t)f  that  metal  lias  been 
reached.  l*21astic  limit  is  exi)ressed  in 
pounds  per  square  inch. 

I'.y  "elongation"  is  meant  the  in- 
crease in  lengtli  in  a  bar  when  its  ten- 
sile strength  is  reachetl.  If  a  bar  10 
inches  long  after  rupture  measures 
i  1.8  inches,  its  elongation  is   18'/  . 

By  "contraction"  is  meant  the  de- 
crease in  cross-section  area  in  a  bar 
when  its  tensile  strength  is  reached. 
1  f  a  l)ar  i  scjuare  inch  in  area  after 
rupture  is  only  .75  of  a  square  inch 
in  area,  its  contraction  is  25'^/^  . 

These  definitions  being  understood, 
a  brief  description  of  the  heat  treat- 
ment can  be  taken  up,  because  it  is 
after  this  treatment  that  standard  bars 
are  taken  from  the  forgings  to  under- 
go the  physical  tests.  The  first  step 
consists  in  "tempering"  or  hardening 
the  metal.  The  piece  to  be  tempered 
is  placed  in  an  upright  position  in  a 
high  furnace  and  uniformly  heated  to 
the  required  temperature.  It  is  then 
lifted  from  the  furnace  through -an 
opening  in  the  top  and  carried  by  a 
crane  to  an  oil  tank  of  suitable  depth 
and  plunged  into  the  oil.  This  rapid 
cooling  or  "tempering  in  oil"  is  facili- 
tated by  having  the  oil  tank  sur- 
rounded by  a  water  bath,  so  arranged 
that  a  supply  of  cold  water  is  con- 
stantly in  circulation  to  carry  the  heat 
from  the  mass  as  quickly  as  possible. 
This  operation  produces  exceeding 
toughness,  increases  the  tensile  strength 
and  raises  the  elastic  limit  of  the  metal. 

Now  the  forging  is  again  annealed, 
so  as  to  relieve  any  strains  set  up  by 
tempering  and  to  soften  up  the  metal 
to  the  degree  required  by  the  specifica- 
tions. It  also  increases  materially  the 
elongation  and  contraction.  Great  care 
must  be  exercised  in  the  heat  treat- 
ment, as  the  acceptance  or  rejection 
of  the  forging  depends  upon  whether 
or  not  the  test  bars  pass  the  required 
s;tecifications. 

The  forging  is  now  submitted  for 
test  and  the  test  bars  taken.  In  the 
manufacture  of  a  big  gun,  four  test 
bars  are  taken  from  the  breech  end 
and  four  from  the  muzzle  end  of  each 


SEARCHING   FOR  POSSIBLE   DEFECTS 


59 


forging  and  these  bars  sent  to  the 
physical  laboratory.  Quite  an  elabor- 
ate testing  machine  is  provided,  and 
if  the  bars  pass  the  required  tests  the 
forging  is  accepted  and  is  sent  to  the 
machine  shop  for  finish-boring  and 
turning. 

Frequently  during  finish-boring  the 
work  is  examined  to  see  that  the  bit 
is  running  true,  and  great  care  must 
be  exercised  to  prevent  its  running  out 
of  alignment. 

After  finish-boring  every  forging  is 
''borc-?carched,"    that    is,    the    bore    is 


'"star-gauged"  after  being  hnish-bored 
and  also  the  liner  of  the  gun  after 
each  assemblage  operation. 

In  preparation  for  the  assembling 
cf  the  different  parts,  the  tube  is  the 
forging  to  be  finished.  It  is  bored  and 
tarned  to  exact  dimensions  and  care- 
fully "bore-searched"  and  "star- 
gauged."  With  the  data  at  hand  a 
sketch  is  made  showing  the  external 
diameters  of  the  liner  under  the  tube, 
due  allowance  being  made  for  the 
shrinkage  when  assembling. 

The   liner   is    next   bored    to    within 


carefully  examined  for  any  cracks, 
flaws,  streaks  or  discoloration.  A 
special  instrument  called  a  "bore- 
searcher"  is  used  and  consists  of  a 
long  wooden  handle  which  has  a  mir- 
ror inclined  at  45°  at  one  end,  together 
with  a  light  to  illuminate  the  bore,  and 
so  shielded  as  to  obscure  the  light 
from  the  observer.   (See  sketch.) 

The  bore  is  also  inspected  by  the 
foreman  after  each  boring,  but  the 
final  "bore-searching"  is  done  by  an 
inspector. 

Now  to  measure  accurately  the  in- 
side diameters  of  long  cylinders,  such 
as  are  used  in  gun  work,  a  special 
measuring  device  called  a  "star-gauge" 
is  used.  Its  name  is  derived  from  the 
fact  that  it  has  three  measuiing  points 
set   at    120"^    apart   and    two   measure- 


ments arc  taken,  one 


® 


and   the 


the   six   points   making 


star 


O 


Every      forging     is 


7 

.35  of  an  inch  of  the  finished  diam- 
eter, and  turned  to  the  dimensions  re- 
quired by  the  sketch  above.  This  extra 
metal  in  the  bore  is  left  until  the  gun 
is  completely  assembled  and  is  re- 
moved in  the  finish-boring.  The  liner 
is  then  carefully  "bore-searched"  and 
"star-gauged"  and  liner  and  tube  are 
ready  for  assembling. 

The  liner  is  now  taken  to  the 
shrinking  pit  and  carefully  aligned  in 
an  upright  position  with  the  breech 
end  down. 

The  shrinking  ])it  is  merely  a  well 
of  square  section  with  room  enough  to 
permit  workmen  to  move  freely  about 
the  gun  when  it  is  in  ]wsition,  and 
equipped  with  a  movable  table  at  its 
bottom  upon  which  the  gun  rests.  In 
the  meantime  the  tube,  with  breech 
end  down,  is  being  heated  in  a  hot-air 
furnace.  This  furnace  is  a  vertical 
cylinder  ])uilt  of  fire-l)rick  and  as- 
bestos and  so  constructed  that  air 
which  has  been  passed  in  pipes  over 
petroleum  burners  can  enter  at  tin- 
jjottom,   ])ass   around   and   through   the 


(10 


RIFLING   A    BIG    GUN 


tube  and  out  througli  the  top  to  be 
reheated.  This  service  permits  a  uni- 
form heat  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
tube  and  when  the  desired  tempera- 
ture has  been  attained  the  tube  is 
lifted  from  the  furnace  by  a  crane, 
carried  to  the  shrinking  pit  and  care- 
fully lowered  over  the  liner,  (ireat 
care  must  be  exercised  in  this  opera- 
tion to  prevent  the  tube  from  stick- 
ing while  being  lowered  into  ])lace. 
Should  it  happen,  the  tube  should  be 
hoisted  off  at  once,  allowed  to  cool, 
any  roughing  of  the  liner  be  smoothed 
off,  the  tube  reheated  and  a  second 
trial  made.  When  the  tube  is  properly 
in  place  a  cold  s])ray  may  be  turned 
upon  any  particular  section  where  it 
i'^  desired  the  tube  should  first  grij) 
the  liner.  The  tube  is  then  left  to  cool 
by  itself,  but  cold  water  is  constantly 
circulating  through  the  liner. 

When  the  gun  is  sufficiently  cool  for 
handling  purposes,  it  is  hoisted  out  of 
the  shrinking  pit  and  taken  to  the  shop 


for  careful  measurement,  the  liner  be- 
ing "star-gauged"  to  note  the  compres- 
sion due  to  the  shrinking  on  of  the 
tube. 

The  same  procedure  is  followed  in 
the  case  of  the  jackets  and  hoops,  un- 
til the  entire  gun  is  assembled.  The 
gun  is  considered  coni])k'tely  "built- 
up"  when  the  last  hooj)  has  been 
shrunk  on  and  is  now  ready  to  be 
finished. 

Tile  gun  is  now  liiiish-bored,  as  .35 
of  an  inch  of  metal  was  left  in  tlie 
liner  in  the  first  boring.  "Packed  bits" 
are  used  and  the  greatest  care  is  ex- 
ercised to  keep  the  bit  properly  cen- 
tered and  running  true.  .Vfter  this 
ste])  the  gun  is  linish-turncd  and 
the  powder  chamber  is  bored. 

Following  this  operation  the  gun 
is  "bore-searched"  for  any  defects 
that  may  have  shown  up  in  the  finish- 
boring  and  chambering,  and  then  care- 
fully "star-gauged."  The  gun  is  then 
ready  to  be  "rifled." 


Photo  by  Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 


This  photograph  shows  a  gun  in  the  Rifling  Machine  in  the  process  of  being  rifled. 


WHAT   MOTION    IS 


61 


The  "rifling"  of  a  gun  consists  in 
cutting  spiral  grooves  in  the  surface 
of  the  bore  from  the  powder  chamber 
to  the  muzzle  end,  and  is  done  from 
the  muzzle  end.  Rifling  is  a  very  diffi- 
cult operation,  and  great  care  must  be 
exercised  that  the  cutting  is  uniform. 
The  grooves  are  separated  by  raised 
portions  called  "lands,"  and  after 
"rifling,"  these  grooves  and  "lands" 
are  carefully  smoothed  up  to  remove 
the  rough  edges  or  burrs  caused -by  the 
cutting  tools  of  the  "rifling"  machine. 

The  necessary  holes  are  now  drilled 
for  fitting  the  breech  mechanism  and 
the  breech  block  fitted.  This  opera- 
tion usually  takes  some  little  time,  as 
quite  a  bit  of  hand  work  is  necessary 
to  insure  a  perfect  fit.  The  "yoke," 
really  another  "hoop,"  is  now  put  on 
ai  the  breech  end  and  the  gun  is  com- 
plete. 

The  centre  of  gravity  of  gun  and 
breech  mechanism  is  now  determined 
by  balancing  on  knife  edges  and  the 
whole  then  weighed.  The  breech 
mechanism  is  also  weighed  and  the 
two  weights  marked  on  the  rear  faces 
of  the  gun  and  breech  mechanism. 

The  gun  is  now  fitted  in  its  "slide," 
that  part  of  the  mount  which  carries 
the  trunnions  and  through  which  the 
gun  recoils  when  it  is  fired,  and  after 
it  is  adjusted,  all  is  in  readiness  for 
the  "proof-firing"  or  testing  of  the  gun. 

What  Is  Motion? 

There  are  practically  but  two  things 
we  see  when  we  use  our  eyes.  One  of 
them  is  matter,  which  is  a  term  we 
apply  to  the  things  we  see,  speaking 
of  them  as  objects  only,  and  the  other 
is  motion  which  we  observe  some  of  the 
matter  to  possess.  Some  of  the  things 
we  see  confuse  us,  if  we  bear  in  mind 
that  everything  is  either  matter  or  mo- 
tion. For  instance,  we  see  light  and 
know  it  is  not  matter  and  are  con- 
fused until  we  understand  that  light 
is  a  movement  of  the  ether  which  sur- 
rounds us  and  is  in  and  outside  of 
everything.  In  the  same  way  we  feel 
heat  and  may  think  it  is  matter  thrown 
off  by  the  fire,  when  it  is  only  cinfjther 
kind    of    motion    of    this    same    ether. 


When  we  understand  these  things  we 
see  that  motion  is  a  very  important 
and  real  part  of  the  world. 

When  a  motion  is  started  it  will 
keep  on  going  forever  unless  some 
other  force  which  is  able  to  overcome 
the  motion  stops  it.  When  a  ball  is 
thrown  in  the  air  it  would  go  on  for- 
ever were  it  not  for  the  law  of  gravi- 
tation which  pulls  it  to  the  earth  and 
the  friction  of  the  air  on  the  ball  as  it 
goes  through  the  air.  When  you  stop 
a  thrown  ball  you  sometimes  realize 
that  motion  is  a  real  thing  because  it 
stings  your  hands.  We  do  wonderful 
things  with  motion.  Many  things 
when  you  add  motion  to  them  acquire 
quahties  which  they  did  not  possess 
before.  For  instance,  an  ordinary 
icicle  thrown  against  a  wooden  door 
will  break,  but  if  you  put  it  into  a 
gun  and  give  it  sufficient  motion,  it 
will  go  right  through  the  door.  There 
is  a  story  of  how  a  man  killed  another 
by  using  an  icicle  as  a  bullet.  The 
icicle  entered  the  man's  body  and 
killed  him.  Then,  of  course,  the  ice 
melted  and  no  one  could  tell  how  the 
man  received  his  wound,  for  no  trace 
of  anything  like  a  bullet  could  be 
found.  A  piece  of  paper  has  no  cut- 
ting qualities,  but  if  you  arrange  a  cir- 
cular or  square  piece  of  paper  with  a 
rod  or  stick  through  the  center  and  re- 
volve it  fast  enough,  you  can  cut  many 
things  while  it  is  whirling.  The  mo- 
tion gives  it  the  cutting  quahties.  You 
cm  take  a  piece  of  strong  rope  and, 
by  tying  the  ends  together,  making  a 
circle  of  it,  you  can  make  it  roll  down 
the  street  like  a  steel  hoop  if  you  catch 
it  just  the  right  way  and  set  it  spin- 
ning fast  enough  before  starting  it  on 
itF  way.  A  steam  engine  has  no  power 
to  pull  the  train  of  cars  until  the 
wheels  are  set  in  motion.  So  we  sec 
that  motion  is  a  very  important  thing 
in  the  world. 

Motion  is  the  cause  of  movements 
of  all  kinds,  the  power  which  takes 
things    from   one   place  to  another. 

Is  Perpetual  Motion  Possible? 

Perpetual  motion  will  never  be  pos- 
sible unless  some  one  discovers  a  way 


62 


HOW   EXPLOSIONS   BREAK   WINDOWS 


to  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation  and 
also  the  certainty  that  materials  will 
eventually  wear  out.  Many  men  have 
tried  to  make  a  machine  that  would 
keej)  on  moving  forever  without  the 
application  of  any  power,  the  con- 
sumption of  fuel  within  itself,  the  fall 
of  weights  or  the  unwinding  of  a 
spring ;  such  a  machine  would  be  ab- 
solutely impossible,  although  many 
pto])le  have  been  fooled  into  invest- 
ing money  in  machines  that  appeared 
to  have  this  power  within  themselves. 

How  Can  an  Explosion  Break  Windows 

That  Are  at  a  Distance? 

An  explosion  is  a  sudden  expansion 
of  a  substance  like  gunpowder  or  sonic 
elastic  tiuid  or  other  substance  that 
has  the  power  to  explode  under  cer- 
tain conditions  with  force,  and  usual- 
Iv  a  loud  report.  Some  explosions  are 
comparatively  mild  and  accompanied 
by  a  very  mild  noise,  while  others  are 
\ery  powerful  and  accompanied  by  a 
\ery  loud  noise.  When  an  explosion 
occurs,  the  air  and  everything  sur- 
rounding the  thing  that  explodes  is 
verv  much  disturbed.  The  air  sur- 
rounding the  thing  that  explodes  is 
thrown  back  in  air  weaves  which  are 
powerful  in  the  exact  proportion  in 
which  the  explosion  is  powerful. 
These  air  waves  can  be  so  suddenly 
thrown  back  against  the  objects  in  the 
vicinity  that  not  only  the  windows  in 
the  buildings  are  broken,  but  often  the 
entire  building  blown  away.  The  ex- 
plosion acts  in  all  directions  at  once 
with  equal  force.  A  great  hole  may 
be  torn  in  the  earth  beneath  the  ex- 
plosion. If  there  is  anything  over  the 
explosion,  that  is  blown  away  unless 
its  power  of  resistance  is  suf^cient  to 
withstand  the  power  of  the  explosion. 
Then,  also,  the  air  surrounding  on  all 
sides  is  forced  back  against  everything 
in  its  path. 

\''ery  often  this  air  which  is  sudden- 
ly forced  back  by  the  power  of  the 
explosion  is  thrown  against  houses  at 
a  distance.  These  houses  may  be  so 
strongly  built  as  to  be  able  to  with- 
stand the  effect  of  the  explosion,  but 
still  certain  parts  of  them,  such  as  the 


windows  and  the  bricks  of  the  chim- 
ney, may  not  be  able  to  withstand  this 
sudden  pressure  of  air  against  thcni 
and  they  are  forced  in.  The  wind 
from  such  an  explosion  acts  on  the 
outside  of  the  windows  just  the  same 
as  though  you  stood  on  the  outside 
w  ith  your  hands  against  the  windows 
and  pushed  them  in.  Anything  that  is 
thrown  against  a  window  with  more 
force  than  the  window  glass  can  re- 
sist will  break  the  window,  and  even 
slight  explosions  may  be  so  powerful 
as  to  throw  the  air  back  and  away 
from  them  with  such  force  as  to  break- 
windows  at  a  great  distance — (fven  a 
mile  or  more  away. 

V7hy  Do  Some  Things  Bend  and  Others 

Break  ? 

When  an  outside  force  is  apjilied  to 
some  objects,  some  of  them  will  bend 
and  others  break.  It  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  some  things  the  particles  have 
the  faculty  of  sticking  together  or 
hanging  on  to  each  other,  and  it  is 
very  difftcult  to  break  them  away  from 
each  other.  In  such  instances,  as  in 
the  case  of  a  wire,  the  article  will  bend 
when  w^e  apply  the  power  to  it  and  it 
will  not  break,  because  the  particles 
which  make  up  the  wire  have  the 
faculty  of  hanging  on  to  each  other. 
-A  piece  of  glass,  however,  can  be 
broken  right  in  two  by  the  application 
of  no  more  force  than  was  used  to 
bend  the  wire,  because  the  particles 
which  make  up  the  glass  haven't  the 
faculty  to  hang  on  to  each  other.  If 
you  continue  to  bend  a  wire  back  and 
forth,  however,  at  the  same  point,  it 
will  finally  break  apart,  because  you 
eventually  overcome  the  ability  of  the 
particles  in  the  wire  to  hang  on  to 
each  other. 

It  all  depends  upon  the  hanging-on 
ability.  Sometimes  in  undergoing  dif- 
ferent processes  an  article  wdiich  will 
ordinarily  only  bend  will  become  very 
brittle  or  breakable.  A  steel  wire  may 
bend  but  if  you  make  a  steel  wire  very 
hard  it  becomes  brittle.  On  the  other 
hand,  glass  is  very  brittle  ordinarily, 
but  if  you  make  it  very  hot,  you  can 
bend  it  into  any  shape  you  wish,  and 


WHY   A   BALL  BOUNCES 


63 


thus  the  glass-worker  makes  different 
shapes  to  various  dishes ;  lamp  chim- 
neys, bottles,  etc.,  by  heating  glass  and 
then  bending  it.  When  it  becomes  cool 
again,  it  also  becomes  brittle  or  break- 
able as  before. 

Why  Does  a  Ball  Bounce? 

When  you  throw  a  ball  against  the 
floor  in  order  to  make  it  bounce  the 
ball  gets  out  of  shape  as  soon  as  it 
comes  in  contact  with  the  floor.  As 
much  of  it  as  strikes  the  floor  becomes 
perfectly  flat,  and  because  the  ball  has 
a  quality  known  as  elasticity,  which 
means  the  ability  to  return  to  its 
proper  shape,  it  returns  to  its  shape 
immediately  and  in  doing  so  forces  it- 
self back  into  the  air  and  that  is  the 
bounce. 

Of  course,  the  first  thing  we  think 
of  when  we  consider  something  that 
bounces  is  a  ball,  and  in  most  cases 
a  rubber  ball.  We  are  more  familiar 
with  the  bouncing  qualities  of  a  rub- 
ber ball.  Other  balls,  like  standard 
baseballs,  are  not  so  elastic  as  a  rub- 
ber ball  filled  with  air,  but  a  solid-rub- 
ber ball  is  more  elastic  and  some  golf 
balls  are  much  more  elastic  than  a 
solid-rubber  ball.  The  principle  is  the 
same,  when  you  drive  a  golf  ball,  ex- 
cepting that  when  you  bounce  a  ball 
on  the  floor  the  floor  does  the  flatten- 
ing and  when  you  drive  a  golf  ball,  the 
golf  club  does  the  flattening.  A  base- 
ball flies  away  from  the  bat  for  the 
same  reason.  \\'hen  you  meet  a  fast- 
pitched  ball  squarely  on  the  nose  with 
a  good  swing,  it  goes  farther  and 
faster  than  when  you  hit  a  slow- 
pitched  ball  with  an  equal  swing,  be- 
cause in  the  case  of  the  fast-pitched 
ball  you  flatten  the  ball  out  more,  and 
it  has  so  much  more  to  do  to  recover 
its  proper  shape  that  it  bounces  away 
from  the  bat  at  much  greater  speed 
and  goes  much  further  unless  caught 
than  a  slow-pitched  ball  under  the 
same  circumstances. 

What  Makes  a  Ball  Stop  Bouncing? 

.\  bouncing  ball,  when  y(ju  first 
tl.row  it  against  the  wall  bounces  back 
a'   you  about  as   fast  as  you  throw   i1. 


but  if  you  do  not  catch  it  on  the  re- 
bound, it  goes  to  the  floor  again,  be- 
cause the  law  of  gravitation  which  is 
the  pulling  power  of  the  earth,  pulls 
it  down  again.  When  it  strikes  the 
floor  it  is  again  flattened  to  a  certain 
extent  and  bounces  up  again,  but  does 
not  come  back  so  high.  It  goes  on 
striking  the  floor  and  bouncing  back 
into  the  air  again  each  time  a  shorter 
distance,  until  the  force  of  gravity  has 
actually  overcome  its  tendency  to 
bounce  back. 

When  you  bounce  a  ball  on  the  floor 
and  it  bounces  up  again,  the  motion 
of  the  ball  through  the  air  is  aft'ected 
by  the  friction  that  the  contact  with 
the  air  produces  and  this  friction  of 
the  air  overcomes  part  of  the  boun- 
cing ability  in  the  ball  also. 

What  Makes  a  Cold  Glass  Crack  if  We 

Put  Hot  Water  Into  It  ? 

Hot  water  will  not  always  cause  a 
cold  glass  to  crack,  but  is  very  apt  to, 
especially  a  thick  glass.  The  very  thin 
glasses  will  not  crack.  The  test  tubes 
used  by  chemists  are  made  of  very  thin 
glass,  and  will  not  crack  when  hot 
liquids  are  poured  into  them. 

When  a  glass  cracks  after  you  have 
poured  a  hot  liquid  into  it,  it  does  so 
because,  as  soon  as  the  hot  liquid  is 
put  in,  the  particles  of  glass  which  form 
the  inside  of  the  glass  become  heated 
and  expand.  They  begin  to  do  this 
before  the  particles  which  form  the 
outside  of  the  glass  become  heated, 
and  in  their  eft'orts  to  expand  the  inside 
particles  of  glass  literally  break  away 
from  the  particles  which  form  the  out- 
side, causing  the  crack.  The  same 
thing  happens  if  you  put  cold  water 
into  a  hot  glass,  excepting  in  this  in- 
stance the  inside  particles  of  the  glass 
contract  before  the  particles  which 
form  the  outside  of  the  glass  have  had 
time  to  become  cool  and  do  likewise. 

What  Causes  the  Gurgle  When  I  Pour 
Water  from  a  Bottle? 

The  air  trying  to  get  in  causes  the 
gurgle.  Air  has  one  strong  character- 
istic which  stands  out  above  every- 
thing else.     Tt  wants  lo  go  some  place 


(i4 


\VH\    A    COAT    HAS     SLKEVE   BUTTONS 


else  all  the  time.  When  it  learns  of  a 
place  where  there  is  no  air  it  wants 
to  go  there  ahove  all  things,  and  goes 
at  it  with  a  rush. 

Now,  when  you  turn  a  bottle  full  of 
water  upside  down,  the  water  comes 
out  if  the  cork  is  out,  of  course,  and 
as  soon  as  the  water  starts  out  the  air 
strivQS  to  get  in,  and  every  time  you 
hear  a  gurgle  you  know  the  air  is  get- 
ting in.  Every  gurgle  is  a  battle  be- 
tween the  water  and  the  air.  Some- 
tunes  the  air  comes  and  pushes  the 
water  back  enough  to  let  it  slide  into 
the  bottle ;  sometimes  the  water  pushes 
the  air  back,  and  thus  they  fight  back 
and  forth.  The  w^ater  always  gets  out 
and  the  air  always  gets  in.  In  doing 
so  they  make  the  gurgle. 

Where  Does  the  Part  of  a  Stocking  Go 
That  Was  Where  the  Hole  Comes? 

Perhaps  this  is  a  foolish  question, 
Init  many  boys  and  girls  have  been 
puzzled  for  an  answer  to  it.  When 
you  put  your  stockings  on  they  have  no 
holes  in  the  feet,  and  at  night,  when 
you  take  them  oflf,  there  are  often  quite 
large  holes  in  them.  The  answer  is  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  the  lead  in  the 
lead-pencil.  The  lead  in  the  pencil  wears 
away.  You  can  see  it  wear  away  be- 
c.iuse  that  is  what  makes  the  marks. 

When  a  hole  is  coming  into  your 
stocking,  the  stocking  on  your  foot  is 
being  rubbed  between  your  foot  and 
something  else  (probably  some  part  of 
your  shoe)  and  this  constant  rubbing 
will  wear  through  the  yarns  with  which 
the  stocking  is  knitted.  Of  course, 
tlie  yarns  in  the  stocking  are  stretched 
somewhat  when  it  is  on  your  foot  and 
the  rubbing  finally  cuts  through  the 
threads  and  releases  the  tension  of  the 
threads  of  yarn,  so  that  not  always  is 
as  much  stocking  lost  as  the  size  of 
the  hole.  But,  if  you  were  to  look 
carefully  at  your  foot  and  inside  your 
shoe,  when  you  first  take  the  stocking 
off  and  see  the  hole,  you  would  find 
little  particles  of  yarn  all  about. 
Why  Do   Coats   Have   Buttons   On   the 

Sleeves? 

The  practice  of  putting  buttons  on 
coat  sleeves,  which  serve  no  useful  pur- 


pose at  all  and  do  not  add  to  the  beauty 
of  the  coat,  is  a  relic  of  very  old  days. 
There  was  a  time  when  i)eople  did 
not  use  handkerchiefs,  and  it  was  com- 
mon practice  for  men  to  wipe  their 
noses  on  their  sleeves.  They  had  coats 
also  in  those  days,  but  they  did  not 
have  buttons  on  the  sleeves.  One  of 
tlie  old  kings  finally  developed  the  idea 
of  dressing  his  soldiers  in  fancy  uni- 
forms and,  as  he  sat  in  his  ])alace  and 
reviewed  his  troops,  he  noticed  many 
of  them  using  the  sleeves  of  their  coats 
as  handkerchiefs.  He  immediately  is- 
sued a  decree  that  all  sleeves  should 
have  a  row  of  buttons  sewed  on  them, 
but  at  a  point  directly  opposite  to 
where  they  are  now  on  the  sleeves. 
This  was  done  to  remind  the  soldiers 
that  the  sleeves  of  their  beautiful  uni- 
forms were  not  to  be  used  as  hand- 
kerchiefs, and  those  who  attem])ted  to 
draw  their  sleeves  in  front  of  the  nose 
v.ere  quickly  reminded  of  the  decree 
by  the  buttons  w^hich  scratched  them. 
And  so  the  buttons  really  had  a  quite 
useful  purpose  at  one  time,  and  so  also 
all  sleeves  had  buttons  sewed  on  to 
them  at  this  place.  Later  on,  however, 
when  the  unsightly  practice  had  been 
cured  and  people  had  learned  to  use 
handkerchiefs,  the  buttons  remained  as 
a  decoration,  but  their  former  j^urpose 
was  lost  sight  of.  Then  some  tailor 
or  leader  of  fashion  had  the  buttons  set 
en  the  under  side  of  the  sleeves  for  a 
change,  and  it  became  the  fashion  to 
have  them  there,  and  the  tailors  have 
been  sewing  them  there  ever  since. 

Why  Has  a  Long  Coat  Buttons  on  the 
Back? 

The  buttons  on  the  back  of  a  long 
coat,  i.  e.,  one  with  skirts,  had  a  more 
sensible  reason  originally.  At  one  time 
the  skirts  of  such  coats  were  made 
very  long,  and  when  the  wearer  moved 
quickly  the  tails  of  the  coat  flapped 
about  the  legs  and  interfered  with  prog- 
ress. So  an  ingenious  gentleman  had 
buttons  sewed  on  to  the  back  and  but- 
tonholes made  in  the  corner  of  his  coat- 
tails.  Then  when  he  was  in  a  hurry 
he  simply  buttoned  up  his  skirts  and 
went  his  way  comfortably. 


WHAT   HAPPENS   WHEN   WE   TELEPHONE 


(•.,") 


TELEPHONE   DISPLAY   BOARD 

Showing  in  outline  the  apparatus  necessary  to  complete  the  simplest  kind  of  a  telephone  call — to  a  number  in 

the  same  exchange 


The   Story   in   the   Telephone 


Mrs.  Smith,  at  "Subscriber's  Station 
No.  I,"  desires  to  telephone  to  Mrs. 
Jones  at  "Subscriber's  Station  No.  2." 
When  she  Hfts  her  receiver,  the  move- 
ment causes  a  tiny  white  Hght  to  ap- 
pear instantly  on  the  switchboard  at 
the  Central  Office.  Directly  beneath 
this  light  is  another  and  larger  lamp, 
which  glows  in  a  way  to  attract  the  op- 
erator's attention  immediately. 

The  operator  inserts  a  "plug"  in  a 
little  hole  on  the  switchboard  called  a 
"jack,"  directly  above  the  tiny  light 
which  appeared  when  Mrs.  Smith 
lifted  the  receiver.  This  connects  her 
to  Mrs.  Smith's  line.  Then  she  pushes 
a  listening  key  on  the  board,  connect- 
ir.g  her  telephone  set  to  the  line.  "Num- 
ber, please?"  she  calls. 

Mrs.  Smith  gives  the  number;  the 
oi>erator  repeats  it  to  be  sure  there  is 
no  mistake,  j)laces  another  "plug"  in 
a  "jack"  corresponding  to  the  number 
of  Mrs.  Jones'  telephone  and  makes  the 
connection. 

Each  subscriber's  telephone  has  a 
p.Tticular  signal  on  the  switchboard  to 


which  it  is  connected  by  a  pair  of  wires. 
Mrs.  Smith's  wires  run  from  her  in- 
strument to  the  nearest  "cable  ter- 
minal," a  gathering  point  for  the  wires 
of  various  telephones  in  her  neighbor- 
hood. Here  they  form  part  of  a  group 
of  wires  going  to  the  Central  Office. 
These  groups,  called  cables,  are  made 
up  of  from  50  to  600  pairs  of  wires,  ac- 
cording to  the  telephone  needs  of  the 
district  the  "terminal"  serves. 

When  the  wires  reach  the  Central 
Office  they  pass  through  the  "cable 
vault"  to  the  "main  distrilniting  frame," 
which  is  the  Central  Office  terminal  of 
the  cable. 

When  the  wires  come  to  this  frame 
they  are  in  numbered  order  in  the  cable. 
Subscribers  living  next  door  to  Mrs. 
Smith  may  have  entirely  different  call 
numbers  and  yet  use  consecutive  wires. 
Jt  is  the  task  of  the  main  frame  to  re- 
distribute these  wires,  so  that  they  will 
be  arranged  according  to  their  call 
numbers  and  to  make  it  possible  to  con 
ncct  Mrs.  Smith's  line  with  the  line 
(/f  anv  otlu-r  subscriber  with  the  least 


66 


WHAT   HAPPENS  WHEN   WE  TELEPHONE 


ASKING    FOR    A    MMBKR 

possible  delay.  This  frame  has  two 
parts :  the  "vertical  side"  and  the  "hori- 
zontal side."  Before  the  wires  are  re- 
distributed they  are  taken  to  pairs  of 
springs  equipped  with  devices  for  pro- 
tecting the  lines  against  outside  cur- 
rents. 

After  leaving  the  main  frame  they 
are  taken  to  the  "intermediate  dis- 
tributing frame,"  the  central  connect- 
ing point  for  various  branches  of  tlic 
lines  going  to  the  switchboard,  signal- 
ing  and    other    apparatus.      From    the 


"horizontal  side"  of  this  frame,  wires 
go  to  the  switchboard,  whore  they 
terminate  in  little  holes  known  as 
"mulli])le  jacks."  They  also  connect 
witli  the  line  and  position  message 
registers,  whore  the  calls  from  each  line 
and  the  calls  handled  at  each  operator's 
])Osition  at  the  switchboard  are  re- 
lordcd.  The  "multiple  jacks"  are  ad- 
ditional lorminals  ])laco(I  at  nocossary 
intervals  throughout  the  switchboard, 
where  they  can  be  used  by  operators  to 
make  connections  with  any  other  line 
on  the  ])oard. 

From  the  "vertical  side"  of  the  in- 
termediate frame  Mrs.  Smith's  wires 
reach  the  "line  and  cut-off  relay,"  an 
electrically  controlled  switch  which 
ti'.rns  on  the  light  signal  that  appears  on 
the  switchboard  when  she  lifts  the  re- 
ceiver from  the  hook.  This  "line  relay" 
also  extinguishes  the  light  when  the 
operator  makes  the  connection,  or  when 
Mrs.  Smith  returns  the  receiver  to  the 
hook. 

The  swift  moving  electric  current 
that  was  set  in  motion  when  Mrs.  Smith 
began  the  call,  instantaneously  passes 
tlirough  all  these  devices  for  safeguard- 
ing and  protecting  the  subscriber's  tele- 
phone service.  The  light  announcing 
Mrs.  Smith's  desire  to  make  a  call  is 
called  the  "line  lamp,"  and  is  flashing 
on  the  switchboard.  Directly  beneath 
it  is  the  "pilot  lamp,"  which  glows 
whenever  any  "line  lamp"  lights. 
With  the  "line  lamp"  is  a  "jack" 
or  terminal,  where  connection 
can  be  made  with  Mrs. 
Smith's  line.  This  is  the 
"answering  jack." 


WHAT   HAPPENS  WHEN   WE   TELEPHONE 


67 


THE  CABLE  ^•AULT 
INTO  WHICH  THE 
CABLES  PASS  AVHEN 
THEY  ENTER  THE 
EXCHANGE  AND  FROM 
WHICH  THEY  ARE 
LED  LTWARD  TO  THE 
^LAIN  DISTRIBUTING 
FRAME 


When  the  operator  sees  the  flashing 
signal  of  Mrs.  Smith's  "line  lamp,"  she 
inserts  one  end  of  a  pair  of  "connecting 
cords,"  which  are  on  the  board  before 
her,  in  the  "answering  jack"  for  Mrs. 
Smith's  line.  These  "connecting  cords" 
are  flexible  conductors  that  put  the 
wires  of  subscribers  in  electrical  con- 
nection. Then  she  pushes  forward  the 
"operator's  key"  directly  in  front  of  her 
and  is  connected  with  Mrs.  Smith's 
line. 

The  operator  ascertains  the  number 
wanted  and  places  the  other  "connect- 
ing cord"  in  the  "jack"  corresponding 
to  Mrs.  Jones'  line.  If  she  finds  .she 
Cr.nnot  herself  connect  with  Mrs.  Jones' 
"jack,"  because  it  is  on  another  part  of 
the  board  out  of  her  reach,  she  makes 
a  connection  with  another  operator  who 
can  reach  Mrs.  Jones'  line.  The  second 
operator  then  mrdscs  the  connection 
with  Mrs.  Jones'  "multiple  jack"  and 
places  her  line  in  connection  with  Mrs. 


Smith's  line  at  the  first  operator's  po- 
sition. At  the  same  time  the  first  op- 
erator pushes  the  operator's  key  back, 
thus  ringing  Mrs.  Jones'  bell. 

"Supervisory  lamps"  on  the  board 
before  her,  connected  with  the  "con- 
necting cords,"  tell  the  operator  when 
Mrs.  Jones  answers  the  summons. 
They  flash  when  the  connection  is 
made  and  one  goes  out  just  as  soon 
as  Mrs.  Jones  takes  the  receiver 
from  the  hook  to  answer.  If  one 
of  these  lamps  flashes  and  dies  out 
alternately  it  tells  the  operator  that 
cither  Mrs.  Smith  or  Mrs.  Jones 
is  trying  to  attract  her  attention  and 
she  connects  herself  and  ascertains  the 
])arty's  wi.shes.  When  both  subscribers 
"hang  up,"  both  lights  flash  to  indicate 
the  end  of  the  conversation.  The  o])- 
erator  then  disconnects  the  cords  from 
the  subscribers'  "jacks"  and  presses  the 
"message  register"  button  recording 
the  call  against  Mrs.  Smith. 


08 


ROUTINE   OF  A  TELEPHONE   CALL 


The  siil>scril)cr.  after  looking  up  in  the  directory 
the  desired  number,  tal<es  the  telephone  off  the 
hook,  which  causes  a  tiny  electric  light  to  glow 
in  front  of  the  operator  assigned  to  answer  his 
calls.  (In  some  exchanges  efiuioped  with  a  mag- 
neto system,  a  drop  is  released  by  the  turning 
of    a    crank.) 


She  takes  up  a  brass.tipped  cord,  inserts  the 
tip,  or  "plug,  '  into  the  hole,  or  "jack,"  just 
above  the  light,  at  the  same  time  throwing  a 
key  with  the  other  hanrl  in  order  to  switch  her 
transmitter  line  into  direct  communication  with 
the    caller,     and     savs:     "Number?" 


The  arrow  indicates  the  light  as  it  appears  on 
the  switchboard.  Each  operator  can  connect  a 
caller  with  any  subscriber  in  that  exchange,  but 
she  is  assigned  to  auswrr  tlie  calls  of  only  a 
limited  number  of  subscribers  whose  signals  arc 
these    lights   showing   at    her    particular   position. 


The  caller  replies  by  giving  the  name  of  the 
exchange  and  the  number  he  wants,  as  for  ex- 
ample, "Main  1268."  The  operator  repeats  the 
number,  "One-two-six-eight,"  pronouncing  each 
digit  with  clear  articulation,  to  insure  its  cor- 
rectness, and,  if  it  be  from  a  subscriber  in  the 
Main    Exchange,    she — 


TaTs-es    up    the    cord    which    is    the    team     mate,  Pushes    in    the    plug    and    with    her    other    hand 

or    "pair,"    of    the    one    with    which    she    answered  operates    a    key    on     the     desk.       The    first    action 

the    caller,    locates    the    jack    numbered     12(18,    and  connects    the     line    of    the     subscriber    called;     the 

"tests"    the    line    by    tapping    the    tip    of    the    plug  second    rings    his    bell.      When    either    party    hangs 

for    a    moment    on    the    sleeve    of    the    "jack       to  up    his    receiver,    a   light   glows    on    the    switchboard 

ascertain     if     the     line     is     "busy."       If     no     click  desk,    showing    the    operator    that    the    conversation 

sounds    in    her    ear    she —  is    ended. 


THE   CENTRAL  TERMINAL  OF  YOUR  TELEPHONE  G9 


A  MTJLTrPLE   SWITCHBOARD 


Tlir.    HACK    OF    A    MtrLTIPI.K    SWITCIIBOAKI) 


7(1 


THE    MEN   WHO    MADE  THE   TELEPHONE 


THE  BIRTFIPLACE  OF  THE  TELEPHONE,   lOQ    COURT 
STREET,  BOSTON 

On  the  top  floor  of  this  building,  in  1875.  Prof.  Bell 
carried  on  his  experiments  and  first  succeeded  in 
transmitting  speech  by  electricity  ' 


How  the  Telephone  Came  to  Be. 

It  is  hard  to  realize  that  there  was 
once  a  time,  not  so  very  many  years 
ago,  when  the  telephone  was  regarded 
as  a  scientific  toy  and  hardly  anyone 
could  be   found  willing  to  invest  any 


money  in  the  development  of  the  tele- 
phone business. 

The  story  of  Professor  Alexander 
Graham  IjcU's  wonderful  invention  is 
full  of  romantic  interest  and  the  early 
(hiys  of  its  exploitation  were  replete 
with  dramatic  incidents. 

Young  Bell  had  come  to  America  in 
1870  in  search  of  health,  the  family 
settling  at  Brant  ford,  Canada.  lie 
numl)c"red  among  his  forebears  many 
distinguished  professional  men.  For 
three  generations  the  l^)clls  liad  taught 
the  laws  of  speech  in  the  universities 
of  Edinburgh,  Dublin  and  London.  He 
himself  was  an  accomplished  elocution- 
ist and  an  expert  in  vocal  physiology. 

During  the  year  spent  in  Canada  in 


„  ..;-^^6^         \ 


ALEXANDER   GRAHAM   BELL   IX    1 8 76 


THOMAS    A.   WATSON    IN    1 8 74 

regaining  his  health,  Bell  taught  his 
father's  method  of  visible  speech  to  a 
tribe  of  jMohawk  Indians  and  began 
to  think  about  the  "harmonic  tele- 
graph." 

In  1 87 1  young  Alexander  Bell  ac- 
cepted an  offer  from  the  Boston  Board 
of  Education  to  teach  the  "visible 
speech"  method  in  a  school  for  deaf 
mutes  in  that  city. 

For  two  years  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  work  with  great  success.  He  w^as 
appointed  a  professor  in  the  Boston 
L'niversity  and  opened  a  school  of 
"Vocal  Physiology"  which  was  at  once 
successful. 

He  might  have  continued  his  career 
as  a  teacher  had  it  not  been  that  his 


THE   FIRST  SOUND  OVER  A  WIRE 


71 


PROF.   BELLS   VIBRATING   REED 


active  brain  still  clung  to  the  "harmonic 
telegraph"  idea  and  his  inventive  genius 
demanded  an  outlet. 

So  we  find  him  in  1874  working  out 
his  idea  of  the  "harmonic  telegraph," 
the  perfection  of  which  meant  a  for- 
tune to  the  young  inventor.  That  he 
never  realized  his  goal  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  while  experimenting,  he  made 
a  discovery  which  led  to  a  far  greater 
invention  and  one  that  was  fraught 
\\ith  more  benefit  to  mankind  than  the 
"harmonic  telegraph"  could  ever  have 
Ijcen. 

It  was  while  working  with  his  faith- 
ful man  Friday,  Thomas  A.  Watson,  in 
the  dingy  little  workrooms  on  Court 
Street,  Boston,  that  Bell  got  the  inspira- 
tion which  made  him  turn  from  the 
"harmonic  telegraph"  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  invention  which  was  destined 
to  make  his  name  famous — the  speak- 
ing telc])hone. 

Mr.  Watson  has  dramatically  de- 
scribed the  incident  as  follows : 

"On  the  afternoon  of  June  2,  1875, 
we  were  hard  at  work  on  the  same  old 
job,  testing  some  modification  of  the 
instruments,  'i'hings  were  badly  out 
of  tunc  that  afternoon  in  that  hot  gar- 
ret, not  only  the  instruments,  but,  I 
fancy,  my  enthusiasm  and  my  temper, 
though  Bell  was  as  energetic  as  ever. 
I  had  charge  of  the  transmitters,  as 
usual,  setting  them  squealing  one  after 


the  other,  while  Bell  was  retuning  the 
receiver  springs  one  by  one,  pressing 
them  against  his  ear  as  I  have  de- 
scribed. One  of  the  transmitter  springs 
I  was  attending  to  stopped  vibrating 
and  I  plucked  it  to  start  it  again.  It 
didn't  start  and  I  kept,  on  plucking  it, 
when  suddenly  I  heard  a  shout  from 
Bell  in  the  next  room,  and  then  out  he 
came  with  a  rush,  demanding,  'What 
did  you  do  then?  Don't  change  any- 
thing. Let  me  see !'  I  showed  him.  It 
was  very  simple.  The  make-and-break 
points  of  the  transmitter  spring  I  was 
trying  to  start  had  become  welded  to- 
gether, so  that  when  I  snapped  the 
spring  the  circuit  had  remained  un- 
broken while  that  strip  of  magnetized 
steel  by  its  vibration  over  the  pole  of 
its  magnet,  was  generating  that  marvel- 
ous conception  of  Bell's — a  current  of 
electricity  that  varied  in  intensity  pre- 
cisely as  the  air  was  varying  in  density 
within  hearing  distance  of  that  s]:)ring. 
That  undulatory  current  had  passed 
through  the  connecting  wire  to  the  dis- 
tant receiver  which,  fortunately,  was  a 
mechanism  that  could  transform  that 
current  back  into  an  extremely  faint 
echo  of  the  sound  of  the  vibrating 
spring  that  had  generated  it.  but  what 
was  still  more  fortunate,  the  right  man 
had  that  mechanism  at  his  ear  during 
that  fleeting  moment,  and  instantly 
recognized  the  transcendent  importance 


WHAT   THE    FIRST  TELEPHONE    LOOKED   LIKE 


ALEXANDER    C.RAIIAM    BELL'S    FIRST   TELEPHONE 


of  that  faint  sound  thus  electrically 
transmitted.  The  shout  I  heard  and 
his  excited  rush  into  my  room  were  the 
result  of  that  recognition.  The  si)eak- 
ing  telephone  was  born  at  that  moment. 
Bell  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  mech- 
anism that  could  transmit  all  the  com- 
plex vibrations  of  one  sound  could  do 
the  same  for  any  sound,  even  that  of 
speech.  That  experiment  showed  him 
th.at  the  complex  apparatus  he  had 
thought  would  be  needed  to  accomplish 
that  long-dreamed  result  was  not  at  all 
necessary,  for  here  was  an  extremely 
simple  mechanism  operating  in  a  per- 
fectly obvious  way,  that  could  do  it 
perfectly.  All  the  experimenting  that 
followed  that  discovery,  up  to  the  time 
the  telephone  was  put  into  practical  use, 
was  largely  a  matter  of  working  out 
the  details.  We  spent  a  few  hours 
verifying  the  discovery,  repeating  it 
with  all  the  dififerently  tuned  springs 
we  had,  and  before  we  parted  that  night 
Pell  gave  me  directions  for  making  the 
first  electric  speaking  telephone.  I  was 
to  mount  a  small  drumhead  of  gold- 
beater's skin  over  one  of  the  receivers, 
join  the  center  of  the  drumhead  to  the 
free  end  of  the  receiving  spring  and 
arrange  a  mouthpiece  over  the  drum- 
head to  talk  into.  His  idea  was  to  force 
the  steel  spring  to  follow  the  vocal  vi- 
brations and  generate  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity that  would  vary  in  intensity  as 
the  air  varies  in  density  during  the  ut- 
terance of  speech  sounds.  I  followed 
these  directions  and  had  the  instrument 
rcadv  for  its  trial  the  verv  next  dav.     T 


rushed  it,  for  Cell's  excitement  and 
enthusiasm  over  the  discovery  had 
aroused  mine  again,  which  had  been 
sadly  dampened  during  those  last  few 
weeks  by  the  meagre  results  of  the 
harmonic  experiments.  I  made  every 
part  of  that  first  telephone  myself,  but 
I  didn't  realize  while  I  was  working  on 
it  what  a  tremendously  important  piece 
of  work  I  was  doing. 

The  First  Telephone  Line. 

"The  two  rooms  in  the  attic  were 
too  near  together  for  the  test,  as  our 
voices  would  be  heard  through  the  air, 
so  I  ran  a  wire  especially  for  the  trial 
from  one  of  the  rooms  in  the  attic  down 
two  flights  to  the  third  floor  where 
W^illiams'  main  shop  was,  ending  it 
near  my  w^ork  bench  at  the  back  of  the 
building.  That  was  the  first  telephone 
line.  You  can  well  imagine  that  both 
our  hearts  were  beating  above  the  nor- 
mal rate  while  we  were  getting  ready 
for  the  trial  of  the  new  instrument  that 
evening.  I  got  more  satisfaction  from 
the  experiment  than  Mr.  Bell  did,  for 
shout  my  best  I  could  not  make  him 
hear  me,  but  I  could  hear  his  voice  and 
almost  catch  the  words.  I  rushed  up- 
stairs and  told  him  what  I  had  heard. 
]t  was  enough  to  show  him  that  he  was 
on  the  right  track,  and  before  he  left 
that  night  he  gave  me  directions  for 
several  improvements  in  the  telephones 
T  was  to  have  ready  for  the  next  trial." 

Then  followed  many  heart-breaking 
months  of  expcrimentmg  and  it  was 
not  until  the  followinsr  March  that  the 


HOW  AN  EMPEROR  SAVED  THE  TELEPHONE 


1876 

BELL  TELEPHONE 


TELEPHONE    APPARATUS    PATENTED    IN    1876    BY    PROF.  BELL,    PHOTOGRAPHED    FROM    THE    ORIGINAL 
INSTRUMENTS    IN    THE   PATENT   OFFICE    AT    WASHINGTON 


telephone  was  able  to  transmit  a  com- 
plete, intelligible  sentence. 

On  February  14,  1876,  Professor 
Bell  filed  at  Washington  his  applica- 
tion for  patents  covering  the  telephone 
which  he  described  as  "an  improvement 
in  telegraphy"  and  on  March  3,  of  the 
same  year,  the  patent  was  allowed. 

That  was  the  year  of  the  Centennial 
Exposition  at  Philadelphia  and  Pro- 
fessor Bell  had  a  working  model  of  the 
telephone  on  exhibition.  Tucked  away 
in  an  obscure  corner  it  had  attracted 
but  little  attention,  until  on  June  25th 
an  incident  occurred  which  had  a  tre- 
mendous effect  in  giving  to  the  new 
invention  just  the  sort  of  publicity  it 
needed. 

Professor  Bell  himself  describes  the 
incident  in  the  following  interesting 
manner : 

"Air.  Hubbard  and  Mr.  Saunders, 
who  were  financially  interested  in  the 
telephone,  wanted  this  instrument  to 
l;c  exhibited  at  the  Centennial  Exhibi- 
tion. In  those  days — and  I  must  say 
even  up  to  the  present  time  I  am  afraid 
to  say  it  is  true — I  was  not  very  much 
alive  to  commercial  matters,  not  being 
a  business  man  myself.  I  had  a  school 
for  vocal  physiology  in  Boston.  I  was 
right  in  the  midst  of  examinations. 

"I  went  flown  to  Philrulclphia, 
growling  all  tbe  time  at  tbis  interrup- 
tion to  my  professional  work,  and  I  ap- 
peared in  Philadelphia  on  Sunday,  the 


25th.  I  was  an  unknown  man  and 
looked  around  upon  the  celebrities  who 
were  judges  there,  and  trotted  around 
after  the  judges  at  the  exhibition  while 
they  examined  this  exhibit  and  that  ex- 
hibit. My  exhibit  came  last.  Before 
they  got  to  that  it  was  announced  that 
the  judges  were  too  tired  to  make  any 
further  examinations  that  day  and  that 
the  exhibit  could  be  examined  another 
day.  That  meant  that  the  telephone 
would  not  be  seen,  for  I  was  not  going 
to  come  back  another  day.  I  was  go- 
ing right  back  to  Boston. 

"And  that  was  the  way  the  matter 
stood — when  suddenly  there  was  one 
man  among  the  judges  who  happened 
to  remember  me  by  sight.  That  was 
no  less  a  person  than  His  Majesty  Dom 
Pedro,  the  Emperor  of  Brazil.  I  had 
shown  him  what  we  had  been  doing  in 
teaching  speech  to  the  deaf  in  Boston, 
had  taken  him  around  to  the  City 
School  for  the  Deaf  and  shown  him 
the  means  of  teaching  speech,  and  when 
he  saw  me  there  he  remembered  me 
and  came  over  and  shook  hands  and 
said:  'Mr. Bell, how  are  the  deaf  mutes 
of  Boston  ?'  I  said  they  were  very 
well  and  told  him  that  the  next  exhibit 
on  the  program  was  my  exhibit.  'Come 
along,'  he  said,  and  he  took  my  arm 
and  walked  off  with  nic — and,  of 
course,  where  an  I'jnperor  led  (he  wav 
the  other  judges  followed.  And  (he 
(('1('j)hf)n('  exhi])it  was  saved. 


74 


THE   FIRST  TELEPHONE  SWITCHBOARD 


•f       J' 


^'       I      I-   I 


T       '  - 


r  T  r  'r  'r  : 


THE    FIRST  TELEPHONE   SWITCHBOARD   USED.      EIGHT  SItbSCRIBERS. 


An  Emperor  Wonders. 

'■\\'cll,  1  cannot  tell  very  much  about 
that  exhibit,  although  it  was  the  pivotal 
point  on  which  the  whole  telephone 
turned  in  those  days.  If  I  had  not  had 
that  exhibition  there  it  is  very  doubtful 
what  the  condition  of  the  telephone 
would  be  today.  But  the  Emperor  of 
Brazil  was  the  first  one  to  bring  that 
situation  about  at  that  time.  I  went  off 
to  my  transmitting  instrument  in  an- 
other part  of  the  building,  and  a  little 
iron  box  receiver  was  placed  at  the  ear 
of  the  Emperor.  I  told  him  to  hold  it 
to  his  ear,  and  then  I  heard  afterward 
what  happened.  I  was  not  present  at 
that  end  of  the  line.  I  went  to  the 
other  end  and  was  reciting,  'To  be  or 
not  to  be,  that  is  the  question,'  and  so 
on,  keeping  up  a  continuous  talk." 

"I  heard  afterward  from  my  friend, 
Mr.  William  Hubbard,  that  the  Em- 
peror held  it  up  in  a  very  indifferent 
way  to  his  ear,  and  then  suddenly 
started  and  said,  'My  God !  it  speaks !' 
And  he  put  it  down ;  and  then  Sir 
William  Thomson  took  it  up  and  one 
after  another  in  the  crowd  took  it  up 
and  listened.  I  was  in  another  part 
of  the  building  shouting  away  to  the 
membrane  telephone  that  was  the  trans- 
mitter. Suddenly  I  heard  a  noise  of 
people  stamping  along  very  heavily, 
approaching,  and  there  was  Dom  Pedro. 


rushing  along  at  a  very  un-Emperor- 
like  gait,  followed  by  Sir  William 
Thomson  and  a  number  of  others,  to 
see  what  I  was  doing  at  the  other  end. 
They  were  very  much  interested.  But 
1  had  to  go  back  to  Boston  and  couldn't 
v/ait  any  longer.  I  went  that  very 
night. 

"Now,  it  so  happened  there,  that,  al- 
though the  judges  had  heard  speech 
emitted  by  the  steel  disc  armature  of 
this  receiving  instrvmient,  they  were  not 
quite  convinced  that  it  was  electrically 
produced.  Some  one  had  whispered  a 
suspicion  that  it  was  simply  the  case  of 
tlie  tiiread  telegraph,  the  lovers'  tele- 
graph, as  it  was  known  in  those  days, 
and  that  the  sound  had  been  mechani- 
cally transmitted  along  the  line  from 
one  instrument  to  the  other.  Of  course, 
I  did  not  know  about  it  at  that  time ; 
but  when  the  judges  asked  permission 
to  remove  the  apparatus  from  that  lo- 
cation I  said,  'Certainly,  do  anything 
you  like  with  it.'  But  I  could  not  re- 
main to  look  after  it;  they  had  to  look 
after  it  themselves. 

"My  friend,  Mr.  William  Hubbard, 
who  had  kindly  come  up  from  Boston 
to  help  me  on  this  celebrated  Sunday, 
June  25,  said  he  would  do  his  best  to 
help  them  out,  although  he  was  not  an 
electrician.  He  knew  nothing  whatever 
about  the  apparatus,  beyond  being  in 


NINE   MILLION   TELEPHONES    IN   U.   S. 


75 


my  laboratory  occasionally,  knowing  me 
v.'ell.  But  he  undertook  to  remove  this 
apparatus  and  set  up  the  line  under  the 
direction  of  the  judges  themselves.  So 
they  had  an  opportunity  finally  of  satis- 
fying themselves  that  speech  liad  really 
been  electrically  reproduced. 

"Sir  William  Thomson's  announce- 
ment was  made  to  the  world  in  Eng- 
land, before  the  British  Association, 
and  the  world  believed — and  from  that 
time  dates  the  popular  interest  in  the 
telephone." 

In  October,  1876,  the  first  outdoor 
demonstration,  in  which  conversation 
was  carried  on  over  a  private  telegraph 
wire,  borrowed  for  the  occasion,  took 
place  between  Boston  and  Cambridge, 
a  distance  of  two  miles. 

In   April,    1877,   the   first   telephone 


line  was  installed  between  Boston  and 
Somerville. 

A  month  later  an  enterprising  Bos- 
ton man  put  up  a  crude  switchboard  in 
Ins  office  and  connected  up  five  banks, 
using  the  system  for  telephoning  in 
the  day-time  and  as  a  protection  against 
burglars  at  night.  This  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  exchange  system,  all 
previous  telephoning  having  been  be- 
tvv-een  two  parties  on  the  same  circuit. 

Soon  after  exchanges  sprang  up  in 
several  cities,  and  by  August  of  that 
year  there  were  778  Bell  telephones  in 
use.  From  this  modest  beginning  the 
telephone  has  grown  until  on  January 
I,  1914,  there  were  13,500,000  tele- 
I)hones  in  the  world,  nearly  9,000,000, 
or  over  64  per  cent  being  in  the  United 
States. 


MODERN    DISTRIBUTING   FRAME 

When  the  wires  come  to  this 
frame  they  are  in  numbered  order 
in  the  cable.  '1  he  main  frame  re- 
distributes these  wires  so  that 
they  are  arranj^ed  according,'  to 
their  call  numbers,  making  it  pos- 
sible to  connect  any  wire  with 
any  other  wire  anywhere  that 
telephone  service  is  installed. 


HOW  THE  WIRES  ARE  PUT  UNDERGROUND 


Breaking  Up  the  Asphalt  Pavement.     First      Laying  Multiple  Duct  Tile  Subway  Through 
Step  in  Laying  an  Underground   Cable.  Which  the  Cables  Will  Run. 


Feeding  Cable  Into  Duct  as  It  is  Being 
Pulled  Through  Subway  from  the  Other 
End. 


A    CABLE    TROUBLE 


UNSEEN  FORCES  BEHIND  YOUR  TELEPHONE 


The  use  of  the  telephone  instrument  is  common,  but  it  affords  no  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  mechanical  equipment  by  which  it  is  made  effective. 

To  give  you  some  conception  of  the  great  number  of  persons  and  the  enor- 
mous quantity  of  materials  required  to  maintain  an  always-efficient  service, 
various  comparisons  are  here  presented. 


TELEPHOXES.    EllOUgh 

to  string  around  Lake 
Erie~8,ooo,ooo,  which, 
with  equipment,  cost 
at  the  factory  $45,- 
000,000, 


WIRE.  Enough  to 
coil  around  the  earth 
621  times  — 15,460,000 
miles  of  it,  worth 
about  $100,000,000.  in- 
cluding 260,000  tons 
of  copper,  worth  $88,- 

000,000. 


LEAD     AND     TIN. 

Enough  to  load  6,600 
coal  cars — being  659,- 
960,000  pounds,  worth 
more  than  $37,000,000. 


CONDUITS.  Enough 
to  go  five  times 
through  the  earth 
from  pole  to  pole — 
225.778,000  feet,  worth 
in  the  warehouse  $9,- 
000,000. 


POLES.      Enough    to  switchboards.    In  a 

build    a    stockade  line      would      extend 

around      California —  thirty-six     miles — 55,- 

12,480,000     of     them,  000    of    them,    which 

worth    in   the   lumber  cost,     unassembled, 

yard    about    $40,000,-  $90,000,000. 
000. 


BUILDINGS.  Sufficient 
to  house  a  city  of 
150,000 — more  than  a 
thousand  buildings, 
which,  unfurnished, 
and  without  land,  cost 
$44,000,000. 


PEOPLE.  Equal  in 
numbers  to  the  entire 
population  of  Wyo- 
ming—  150,000  em- 
ployes, not  inchuHng 
those  of  connecting 
companies. 


The  poles  arc  set  all  over  this  country,  and  strung  with  wires  and  cables; 
the  coiifknts  are  buried  under  the  great  cities  ;  the  telephones  are  installed  in 
separate  homes  and  ofiices  ;  the  switchboards  housed,  connected  and  su])])lemented 
with  other  machinery  and  the  whole  system  kept  in  running  order  so  that  each 
subscriber  may  talk  at  any  time,  anywhere. 


78 


WHERE   SOUND    COiWES    FROM 


Where  Does  Sound  Come  From  ? 

Somebody  or  something  causes  every 
sound  we  hear.  Sounds  are  the  result 
of  disturbances  in  the  air.  Sound  is 
jiroduced  by  waves  in  the  air.  The 
buzz  of  the  bumble-bee  is  caused  by 
the  quick  movement  of  his  wings  in  the 
air.  The  wings  themselves  do  not  make 
the  sound,  but  their  motion  causes 
waves  or  vibrations  in  the  air  which 
I)roduce  the  sound  of  buzzing,  l^^very 
motion  made  by  anybody  or  anything 
I^roduccs  waves  in  the  air  just  like  the 
waves  you  see  in  the  water — a  big 
movement  makes  a  big  wave  and  a  tiny 
movement  a  tiny  wave.  When  you 
clap  your  hands  you  make  a  disturb- 
ance in  the  air  which  causes  a  sound — 
the  harder  you  clap  the  louder  the 
sound.  You  can  hear  this  sound  and 
anybody  else  near  can  hear  it.  If  there 
were  no  air  about  us,  however,  we 
would  hear  no  sound,  even  if  we  could 
live  in  such  z.  condition  of  things,  for 
it  is  the  air  waves  produced  striking 
against  the  drum  of  our  ears  that  en- 
able us  to  discern  sounds.  When  we 
talk  we  make  air  waves  also  and  thus 
produce  sound.  If  you  were  deaf,  and 
talked,  you  could  not  hear  any  sound, 
because  even  when  there  are  air  waves 
they  must  still  strike  against  a  sound- 
ing board  in  order  to  be  recognized  as 
sound — and  the  drum  of  our  ear  is  our 
sounding  board  for  hearing  sounds. 

When  the  air  waves  produced  are 
regular  we  call  the  sound  musical,  and 
when  they  are  irregular  we  call  it  noise. 
Some  people  can  make  musical  sounds 
when   they   sing,   while   others   cannot. 

If  you  take  a  piece  of  thin  wire  and 
stretch  it  tightly,  fastening  it  at  both 
ends,  and  then  pull  it  with  your  finger 
and  let  go,  you  will  hear  a  musical 
sound,  because  the  vibrations  produced 
will  be  regular  and  will  continue  for 
some  time.  If  you  shorten  the  distance 
on  the  wire  where  it  is  fastened  at  both 
ends  and  pull  it  as  before,  the  sound 
produced  will  be  in  a  higher  key.  If 
you  take  a  guitar  and  snap  the  big  G 
string  you  will  produce  the  bass  note 
of  G.  If  the  other  G  string  (the  smaller 
one)  is  in  tune  (if  you  watch  the 
smaller   one   closely   while   you    strike 


the  larger  one)  you  will  notice  the 
smaller  one  vibrate  also.  Sound  waves 
of  tiic  same  tone,  although  in  different 
octavos,  ])roduce  the  same  sounds,  al- 
tliough  in  different  keys. 

This  is  the  principle  on  which  the 
piano  is  made  to  produce  music.  In- 
side the  piano  are  wires  of  different 
lengths  and  the  keys  of  the  ])iano  are 
arranged  to  operate  certain  little  ham- 
mers, each  of  which  strikes  a  certain 
wire.  Every  time  you  strike  a  ])iano 
key  you  cause  one  of  the  little  ham- 
mers to  hit  its  wire — the  wire  then 
makes  vibrations  which  cause  air 
waves.  The  air  waves  strike  against 
the  sounding  board  which  is  located 
behind  the  wires,  and  being  thrown 
back  into  the  air,  strike  against  the 
drum  of  our  ears,  and  we  can  hear  the 
note. 

Why  Can  We  Make  Sounds  With  Our 

Throats  ? 

The  sounds  we  make  when  we  talk 
are  produced  in  exactly  the  same  way 
with  the  exception  of  the  little  ham- 
mers. In  our  throats  are  two  cords 
which  we  call  our  vocal  cords.  WHien 
we  talk  we  cause  these  cords  to  vi- 
biate  and  thus  we  make  the  sounds  of 
our  voices.  The  most  wonderful  part 
of  this  voice  of  ours  is  that  with  only 
two  vocal  cords  or  wires,  we  can  pro- 
duce practically  all  the  notes  that  can 
be  made  with  a  piano,  which  has  a  wire 
or  cord  for  every  note,  excepting  that 
we  cannot  make  so  many  at  one  time. 
The  human  throat  is  so  wonderfully 
constructed  that  we  can  lengthen  or 
shorten  our  vocal  cords  at  will  and 
produce,  with  two  strings,  in  our 
throats  as  many  notes  as  it  takes  the 
piano  many  more  strings  to  produce. 

Why  Does  the   Sound  Stop  When  We 
Touch  a  Gong  that  Has  Been  Sounded? 

When  we  touch  the  gong  we  stop 
the  sound  waves  which  the  gong  gives 
ofT  when  it  is  struck.  These  sound 
waves  continue  after  the  gong  has  been 
struck  in  continuous  vibrations  until 
something  stops  them.  When  you  touch 
the  vibrating  gong,  you  stop  its  vibra- 
ting.   If  you  only  touch  your  finger  to 


WHAT  MAKES  THE  SOUNDS  IN  A  SEA  SHELL? 


79 


the  vibrating  gong  you  can  feel  the 
vibrations  which  cause  a  Httle  tickhng 
sensation.  Naturally  when  you  stop 
these  vibrations  you  stop  the  air  waves 
which  the  vibrations  cause,  and  thus 
also  the  sound  of  these  air  waves  strik- 
ing your  ear  are  stopped  and  the  sound 
ceases. 

How  Can  Sound  Come  Through  a  Thick 
Wall? 

A  sound  will  come  through  a  thick 
or  thin  wall  only  if  the  wall  is  a  good 
conductor  of  sound.  Some  things  are 
good  conductors  of  sound  and  others 
are  not,  just  as  some  things  are  good 
conductors  of  electricity  and  others 
are  not.  If  a  wall  is  built  of  materials 
all  of  which  are  good  conductors  of 
sound,  the  sound  will  come  through 
it  no  matter  how  thick.  Wood  is  an 
especially  good  conductor  of  sound.  It 
is  even  better  than  air.  You  can  stand 
at  one  end  of  a  long  log  and  have  an- 
other person  at  the  other  end  hold  up 
his  watch  in  the  air,  and  you  cannot 
hear  the  watch  tick,  but  if  the  watch  is 
"going"  as  we  say,  and  you  ask  the 
person  'holding  it  to  put  the  watch 
against  his  end  of  the  log,  and  you 
then  put  your  ear  to  the  other  end,  you 
can  hear  the  watch  ticking  almost 
as  well  as  if  you  had  it  to  your 
own  ear.  In  like  manner  yets  can 
hear  the  scratching  of  a  pin  at  the 
other  end  of  the  log.  When  you  put 
your  ear  against  a  telegraph  pole  you 
can  hear  the  hum  of  the  wires  while 
you  cannot  hear  it  through  the  air. 
All  sound  is  produced  by  sound  waves 
and  many  solids  are  better  conductors 
of  sound  waves  than  the  air. 

Sound  waves,  however,  will  some- 
times not  be  heard  as  plainly  through 
a  wall,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  wall 
may  be  made  of  materials  which  are 
not  equally  good  conductors  of  sound. 
W^hen  a  sound  wave  strikes  a  poor 
conductor  it  loses  some  of  its  power 
and  the  sound,  although  it  mav  be  heard 
through  the  wall,  will  be  fainter. 

What  Is  Meant  by  Deadening  a  Floor 

or  a  Wall  ? 

Ry  deadening  a  flrjor,  for  instance, 
we  mean  inserting  between  tlic  ceiling 


of  the  room  below  and  the  floor  above, 
or  in  the  instance  of  a  deadened  wall, 
between  the  two  sides  of  the  wall,  some 
substance  like  felt,  paper  or  other  non- 
conductor of  sound,  which  will  prevent 
the  sound  waves  from  passing  through. 
This  deadens  them  to  the  passing  of 
sound  or  makes  them   sound-proof. 

What  Makes  the  Sounds  Like  Waves  in 

a  Sea  Shell? 

The  sounds  we  hear  when  we  hold 
a  sea  shell  to  the  ear  are  not  really  the 
sound  of  the  sea  waves.  We  have  come 
to  imagine  that  they  are  because  they 
sound  like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  and 
knowledge  that  the  shell  originally 
came  from  the  sea  helps  us  to  this  con- 
clusion very  easily. 

What  Are  the  Sounds  We   Hear  in   a 

Shell? 

The  sounds  we  hear  in  the  sea  shell 
are  really  air  waves  or  sounds  made  by 
air  waves,  because  all  sounds  are  pro- 
duced by  air  waves. 

The  reason  you  can  hear  these 
sounds  in  a  sea  shell  is  because  the 
shell  is  so  constructed  that  it  forms  a 
natural  sounding  box.  The  wooden 
part  of  a  guitar,  zither  or  violin  is  a 
sounding  box.  They  have  the  faculty 
of  picking  up  sounds  and  making  them 
stronger.  We  call  them  "resonators," 
because  they  make  sounds  resound. 
The  construction  of  a  sea  shell  makes 
an  almost  perfect  resonator.  A  perfect 
resonator  will  pick  up  sounds  which 
the  human  ear  cannot  hear  at  all  and 
magnify  them  so  that  if  you  hold  a  re- 
sonator to  the  ear  you  can  hear  sounds 
you  could  not  otherwise  hear.  Ear 
trumpets  for  the  deaf  are  built  upon 
this  principle. 

Sometimes  when  you,  with  your  ear 
alone,  think  something  is  absolutely 
(|uiet,  you  can  pick  up  a  sea  shell  and 
hear  sounds  in  it.  But  the  sea  shell 
vvill  magnify  any  sound  that  reaches  it. 

It  would  be  ])ossil)le,  of  course,  to 
take  a  sea  shell  to  a  place  where  it 
would  be  absolutely  quiet  and  then 
there  would  be  no  sounds. 

There  are  such  places,  but  very  few 
of  them.  A  room  can  be  built  which 
is  absolutely  sound  i)roof. 


80 


WHERE  DOES  WOOLEN   CLOTH   COME  FROAl  ? 


SIBERIAN   LAMBS  IN   SOUTH  DAKOTA 


The   Story  in   a   Suit   of   Clothes 


Where  Does  Wool  Come  From? 

We  could  not  write  the  story  of  a 
suit  of  clothes  without  dealing  largely 
with  the  sheep,  for  it  is  only  from  the 
wool  of  the  sheep  that  the  best,  warm- 
est and  most  lasting  garment  can  be 
made.  In  order  that  we  may  properly 
understand  the  development  of  the 
great  wool  and  clothing  industry  in 
America  we  must  supply  a  brief  history 
of  our  sheep  industry,  for  the  sheep 
must  always  come  before  the  clothing. 

Who  Brought  the  First  Sheep  to  Amer- 
ica? 

The  sheep  is  not  a  native  of  America, 
but  it  came  here  with  the  first  white 
men.  History  records  that  Columbus 
on  his  way  to  this  country  stopped  at 
the  Canary  Islands  to  take  on  stores. 
Among  other  things  he  loaded  a  num- 
ber of  sheep,  some  of  which  were  later 
landed  on  the  new  continent.  What 
became  of  this  early  importation  his- 
tory does  not  record,  but  it  is  probable 
that  most,  if  not  all,  of  them  perished 


from  the  attack  of  wild  animals  or  at 
the  hands  of  the  natives.  However, 
when  settlers  began  pouring  into  the 
new  world  many  of  them  brought  along 
their  sheep,  so  that  from  the  earliest 
colonial  days  the  sheep  constituted  our 
most  numerous  domestic  animals.  This, 
indeed,  was  necessary,  for  if  the  colo- 
nist was  to  survive  the  rigor  of  our  cli- 
n^ate  he  must  have  an  abundant  supply 
of  woolen  clothing.  In  those  days 
clothing  materials  were  limited  to  wool, 
fir.x  and  the  skins  of  animals,  and,  as 
may  be  supposed,  wools  were  in  very 
great  demand.  England  and  most 
European  countries  prohibited  the  ex- 
portation of  wool,  in  order  to  increase 
the  demand  for  the  clothing  which  she 
manufactured.  However,  as  our  new 
colonist  had  ample  time  and  but  little 
money,  he  desired  to  make  his  own 
clothing  rather  than  send  such  funds 
as  he  had  to  the  mother  country. 
Therefore,  the  new  settler,  as  a  matter 
of  necessity,  was  forced  to  increase  the 
domestic  supply  of  wools. 


WHERE   OUR  WOOL   COMES   FROM 


81 


Who   Started   to   Make    Clothing   from 
Wool  in  America? 

Early  records  reveal  that  shortly- 
after  the  year  1600  many  of  the  col- 
onies passed  laws  for  the  purpose  of 
encouraging  the  sheep  industry.  In 
fact,  some  of  them  went  so  far  as  to 
prohibit  the  transportation  of  sheep  or 
\\'ool  from  one  colony  to  another. 
However,  our  new  sheep  industry  pros- 
pered, and  well  it  should,  for  it  had 
the  backing  of  every  prominent  patriot 
of  the  early  days.  Washington,  Jeffer- 
son, Madison,  and  Franklin  all  were 
enthusiastic  advocates  of  sheep  hus- 
bandry, for  they  knew  that  unless  a 
people  had  a.  large  domestic  supply  of 
wool  they  could  not  long  remain  inde- 
pendent or  hope  to  gain  independence 
from  foreign  countries.  In  fact,  at  one 
time  W^ashington  owned  as  many  as  one 
thousand  sheep,  and  if  he  lived  in  the 
present  day  he  would  be  regarded  as  a . 
sheep  baron.  Wool,  next  to  food,  is 
the  most  vital  necessity  of  a  people,  for 
when  wars  come  wool  becomes  a  con- 
traband, and  all  foreign  supplies  are 
shut  off.  Thus,  in  stimulating  a  do- 
mestic wool  supply  the  great  wisdom  of 
our  early  patriots  w'as  vindicated  with 
the  coming  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
When  that  great  struggle  came  our  for- 
eign wool  supply  was  shut  off,  but  on 
account  of  the  foresight  of  these  pat- 
riots in  encouraging  home  production, 
our  colonists  had  a  supply  ample  for 
most  of  their  needs. 

We  not  only  had  the  wool,  but  the 
housewife  had  learned  the  art  of  man- 
ufacturing wool  into  clothing  by  means 
of  the  spinning  wheel,  so  that  when  our 
soldiers  went  forth  in  that  great 
struggle,  which  was  to  bring  to  us  in- 
dependence, they  were  clad  in  garments 
made  of  American  grown  wool  and 
manufactured  l)y  the  good  housewife 
during  her  bours  of  leisure. 

When  affairs  became  tranquil,  fol- 
lowing the  close  of  the  Revolution,  set- 
tlement, which  had  largely  been  con- 
fined to  the  Atlantic  coast,  pushed 
westward  farther  and  farther  into  the 
wilderness.  I^ach  of  these  settlers  took 
with  him  his  su])ply  of  sheep,  for  the 
])iirpose  of    fiuMiisliing  wool   for  clotli- 


ing  and  meat  for  food.  In  the  early 
days  wool  was  not  grown  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sale,  but  to  be  used  entirely  by 
the  family  of  the  producer.  However, 
when  settlement  reached  the  Missis- 
sippi River,  conditions  changed.  Wool 
manufacturing  had  then  been  estab- 
lished in  the  land,  and  it  became  cus- 
tomary to  raise  wool  to  sell  to  these 
manufacturers,  who  had  located  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

Why  Does  the  Sheep  Precede  the  Plow 
in  Civilizing  a  Country? 

In  all  countries  the  sheep  has  been 
the  pioneer  of  civilization.  They  have 
settled  and  developed  practically  all 
new  lands.  In  fact,  so  firmly  estab- 
lished has  been  this  rule  that  it  seems 
almost  necessary  that  the  sheep  should 
precede  the  plow,  and  thus  prepare  land 
for  agriculture.  The  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  sheep  is  a  tractable  animal  and 
depends  on  man  to  guide  its  every  step. 
It  can  endure  hardships  that  would  de- 
stroy other  forms  of  animal  life.  How- 
ever, the  maintenance  of  a  sheep  indus- 
try requires  an  abundance  of  labor,  and 
in  this  way  settlement  always  follows 
the  sheep.  So  has  it  been  in  foreign 
countries,  and  so  was  it  in  this  country. 

Where  Does  Most  of  Our  Wool   Come 
From? 

Sheep  came  into  our  western  states 
early  in  the  seventies,  at  a  time  when 
these  states  were  thinly  settled,  but 
following  the  sheep  came  the  labor  in- 
cident to  its  care,  and  thus  the  rail- 
roads, stores,  cities  and  schoolhouses 
found  their  way  into  the  land.  Origi- 
nally all  of  our  sheep  industry  was  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  Then  for  a 
time  it  was  east  of  the  Missouri 
River.  To-day  west  of  the  Missouri 
River  we  have  about  23,000.000  aged 
sheep,  or  more  than  one-half  of  the 
total  in  the  United  States.  In  the  ])io- 
neer  days  the  western  sheej)  skirmished 
on  the  range  for  most  of  the  food  that 
it  obtained.  To-day  conchlions  are  dif- 
ferent, and,  while  the  sheep  is  on  the 
range  for  a  short  time  each  year,  it 
spends  its  summer  in  (he  National  ^^)r- 
est,  for  which  grazing  a  fee  is  paid  to 


82 


HOW  WOOL   IS  TAKEN   FROM  THE  SHEEP 


SHEEP  COMING  OUT  OF  FOREST 


the  Federal  Government.  Its  winters 
are  spent  largely  around  the  hay-stack 
of  the  farmer,  and  about  fifty  to  sixty 
cents'  worth  of  hay  is  fed  to  each  sheep 
in  the  West  each  winter.  With  the 
coming  of  spring  the  western  sheep  are 
divided  into  bands  of  about  1500,  and 
each  two  bands  are  placed  in  care  of 
three  caretakers,  who  care  for  and  pro- 
tect the  sheep  either  on  the  deeded  land 
of  the  owner  or  on  the  land  rented  from 
the  Federal  (iovernment. 

How  Much  Wool  Does  America  Produce 

Yearly? 

So  much  for  the  history  of  our  sheep. 
A  few  words  now  about  wool.  The 
total  wool  crop  of  the  United  States  is 
approximately  300.000.000  pounds  per 
year.  The  value  of  this  crop  is  around 
$60,000,000  annually. 

How  Do  We  Get  the  Wool  Off  the  Sheep  ? 
With  the  coming  of  spring  our  sheep 
are  driven  to  large  central  plants, 
where  they  are  shorn  by  the  use  of  ma- 
chines driven  by  electricity  or  steam 
power.  One  man  shears  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  sheep  per  day.  For  this 
he  receives  eight  cents  per  head.  When 
the  wool  is  taken  off  the  sheep  it  is 


gathered  up  and  carefully  tied  with 
string  made  of  paper.  The  tied  fleece 
is  then  dropped  into  an  elevator,  and  is 
carried  up  about  ten  feet,  where  it  is 
dropped  into  a  large  sack  about  three 
feet  in  diameter  and  seven  feet  long. 
In  this  sack  there  is  always  a  wool 
tramper,  who  keeps  tramping  the  fleeces 
down,  so  that  about  forty  fleeces  are 
finally  put  into  each  sack,  making  the 
weight  of  the  sack  approximately  three 
hundred  pounds.  As  these  sacks  are 
filled  they  are  carefully  stored  in  a  dry 
shed,  and,  when  shearing  is  completed, 
are  hauled  to  the  railroad  station  and 
shipped  to  the  great  wool  centers  of 
Boston  or  Philadelphia.  While  the  bulk 
of  the  wool  in  the  United  States  is  pro- 
duced west  of  the  Missouri  River,  that 
territory  manufactures  very  little  wool. 
So  the  western  sheepman,  who  is  thus 
forced  to  grow  his  wool  in  the  western 
states,  pays  about  two  cents  a  pound 
freight  on  it  back  to  the  eastern  market, 
where  it  is  sold  and  later  manufactured 
into  cloth.  A  part  of  this  same  clothing 
is  then  shipped  west,  to  be  sold  to  the 
very  man,  in  some  instances,  who  pro- 
duced the  wool  out  of  which  it  is  made. 
American  wool,  taken  as  a  whole,  is 
the  best  wool  grown  in  the  world.     It 


IS  not  as  soft  as  some  Australian  wool, 
but  all  of  it  possesses  a  greater  strength 
than  foreign  wools,  and  it  has  long 
since  been  determined  that  clothing 
made  of  American  wool  will  give  bet- 
ter service  than  that  made  of  foreign 
wool.  Of  the  wool  used  in  the  United 
States  for  the  manufacturing  of  cloth- 
ing we  produce  about  70  per  cent  and 
import  about  30  per  cent. 

How  Much  Does  the  Wool  In  a  Suit 

of  Clothes  Cost? 

It  is  customary  for  the  person  who 
buys  clothing  made  of  wool  to  believe 
that  the  value  of  the  wool  in  the  cloth 
is  what  makes  the  clothing  seem 
expensive.  However,  if  we  take  a 
man's  suit  made  of  medium-weight 
cloth,  such  as  is  worn  in  November, 
we  find  that  it  requires  about  nine 
pounds  of  average  wool  to  make  the 
suit.  For  this  wool  the  sheepman  re- 
ceives an  average  of  seventeen  cents 
per  pound,  so  that  out  of  the  entire 
suit  the  man  who  produces  the  material 
out  of  which  the  suit  is  made  receives 
a  total  of  $1.53.  A  suit  such  as  is  here 
described  would  be  of  all  wool  and  free 
from  shoddy  or  any  wool  substitute. 
It  would  be  a  suit  that  would  be  sold 
by  the  storekeeper  at  $25.00,  and  if  you 
had  it  made  by  the  tailor  he  would 
charge  you  $35.00.  Yet  the  wool- 
grower  furnished  all  the  material  out 
of  which  the  suit  was  made,  and  re- 
ceived as  his  share  but  $1.53.  Thus 
it  will  be  clear  to  the  person  who  buys 
clothing  and  reads  these  lines  that  no 
longer  can  the  blame  for  the  high  cost 
of  clothing  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the 
wool-grower. 

While  the  wool-using  population  of 
the  world  is  increasing  very  rapidly, 
the  number  of  wool-j)roducing  sheep  in 
the  workl  is  decreasing.  Ordinarily 
this  would  mean  that  a  point  would  be 
reached  where  the  suj)ply  of  wool 
would  be  totally  inadequate  to  meet  the 
needs  of  the  public.  However,  this 
unfortunate  possibility  is  being  averted 
by  the  energy  and  thrift  of  the  sheep- 
men in  breeding  sheep  that  produce 
more  and  better  wool  than  was  the  case 
in  the  past.     The  sheep  which  Coluni- 


bus  brought  to  this  country,  and,  in 
fact,  all  the  sheep  of  the  world  in  that 
day,  produced  wool  of  very  coarse,  in- 
ferior quality,  and  but  very  little  of  it. 
One  hundred  years  ago  our  sheep  did 
not  average  three  pounds  of  wool  per 
head,  but  by  careful  breeding  and  bet- 
ter feeding  we  have  brought  the  aver- 
age fleece  up  to  slightly  more  than  seven 
pounds.  Of  course,  some  sheep  pro- 
duce decidedly  more  wool  than  this, 
but  the  fact  that  in  one  hundred  years 
we  have  more  than  doubled  the  amount 
of  wool  that  a  sheep  produces  and  in- 
creased its  quality  very  materially 
speaks  well  for  the  ingenuity  and  de- 
termination of  our  sheep  producers. 
Probably  as  time  goes  on  the  average 
fleece  may  be  still  further  increased, 
so  that  in  the  next  twenty-five  years 
it  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  our 
sheep  will  produce  on  an  average  of 
one  pound  more  wool  than  they  now  do. 

Of  course,  as  wool  comes  from  the 
sheep,  it  naturally  contains  much  dirt. 
The  sheep  have  run  on  the  range  or 
in  the  open  pasture  during  much  of  the 
year,  and  dust  and  dirt  has  settled  into 
the  wool.  Then,  besides  producing 
wool,  the  sheep  excrete  into  the  wool  a 
fatty  substance  known  as  wool  fat. 
When  the  fleece  is  taken  from  the  sheep 
and  sent  to  the  market  the  first  thing 
that  the  manufacturer  does  with  the 
fleece  is  to  wash  out  all  this  foreign 
matter.  The  foreign  matter  is  of  a 
considerable  quantity,  for  60  per  cent 
of  wool  as  it  comes  from  the  sheep  is 
dirt  and  grease,  so  that  only  40  j^er 
cent  of  the  sheep's  fleece  represents 
wool  fibres. 

This  wool  fibre  is  a  very  delicate 
afi'air,  being  made  up  of  thousands  of 
little  cells,  one  laid  on  top  of  the  other. 
On  the  surface  of  the  fibre  are  a  lot 
of  scales  arranged  something  like  the 
scales  on  a  fish.  In  the  process  of  man- 
ufacturing the  scales  on  one  fil)re  lock 
with  scales  on  another  fibre,  and  in 
that  way  the  fibres  are  held  together 
in  the  p\ece  of  cloth. 

When  wool  is  received  at  the  factory 
it  is  in  fleeces,  and  each  fleece  contains 
(hfferent  kinds  of  fibres — long  and 
short — coarse  and  fine,  and  it  is  neces- 


s4 


DIFFERENCE    IN   WOOLENS   AND   WORSTEDS 


t'l.pyrlght  American  Woolen  Company 


WOOL  SORXIXG 


5a ry  that  these  should  be  sorted  into 
different  kinds  or  grades,  as  may  be 
desired — perhaps  six  or  eight  dift'erent 
kinds,  according  to  the  particular  uses 
to  which  the  different  qualities  are  to 
be  put. 

The  fleece  is  spread  out  on  a  table, 
the  center  of  which  is  covered  with 
wire  netting,  and  through  this  netting 
part  of  the  dust  and  other  matter  from 
the  wool  falls  while  the  sorting  is  going 
on.  Sorters  tear  with  the  hands  the 
different  parts  of  the  fleece  from  each 
other  and  separate  them  into  piles,  ac- 
cording to  their  different  qualities. 

All  unwashed  wool  contains  a  fatty 
or  greasy  matter  called  yolk,  which  is 
a  secretion  from  the  skin  of  the  sheep. 
The  effect  of  this  yolk  is  to  prevent  the 
fibres  of  the  wool  from  matting,  ex- 
cept at  the  ends,  where,  of  course,  it 
collects  dust.  and.  forming  a  sort  of  a 
coating,  really  serves  as  a  protection  to 
the  rest  of  the  fleece  while  on  the 
sheep's  back. 

After  the  wool  is  sorted  it  is  next 
cleansed  or   scoured,   in   order   to   re- 


move all  this  yolk,  dirt  and  foreign 
matter,  and  this  is  accomplished  by 
passing  the  wool,  by  means  of  auto- 
matic rakes,  through  a  washing  ma- 
chine, consisting  of  a  set  of  three  or 
four  vats  or  bowls,  which  contain  a 
cleansing  solution  of  warm,  soapy 
water,  until  all  the  grease  and  dirt 
have   been   removed. 

Each  bowl  has  its  set  of  rollers, 
which  squeezes  out  the  water  from  the 
wool  before  it  passes  into  the  next 
bowl.  Having  passed  through  the  last 
bowl  and  set  of  rollers  the  wool  is 
carried  on  an  apron  made  of  slats  on 
chains,  to  the  drying  chamber,  called 
the  dr}-er,  where  is  taken  out  most  of 
the  moisture. 

The  wool  is  now  blown  through  pipes 
or  carried  on  trucks  to  the  carding 
room. 

From  this  point  the  wool  follows  one 
of  two  different  processes  of  manu- 
facture— that  of  making  into  worsteds 
or  that  of  making  into  woolens. 

Speaking  in  a  general  way,  worsted 
fabrics  are  made  of  varus  in  which  the 


HOW  CLOTH    IS   MADE    FROM   WOOL 


bo 


Copyright  American  Woolen  Company 
WOOL    SCOURING 


fibres  all  lie  parallel,  and  woolens  are 
made  of  yarns  in  which  the  fibres 
cross  or  are  mixed.  Ordinarily, 
worsteds  are  made  from  long  staple 
wools,  and  woolens  from  short  staple 
wools. 

By  means  of  the  comb  the  fibre  is 
still  further  straightened  out,  the  short 
stock  and  noil,  or  nibs,  are  removed, 
and  when  the  sliver  comes  from  the 
combs  most  of  the  fibres  are  parallel 
to  each  other.  A  number  of  the  slivers 
taken  from  the  comb  are  then  put 
through  two  further  operations  of  gill- 
ing,  and  wound  into  a  large  ball,  which 
is  called  a  finished  top. 

The  next  process  in  the  manufacture 
of  worsteds  is  carding.  In  this  process 
the  wool  is  passed  between  cylinders 
and  rollers,  from  which  project  the 
ends  of  many  small  wires.  These  cyl- 
inders revolve  in  opposite  directions. 
The  result  is  the  opening,  separating 
and  straightening  of  the  fibres ;  and  the 
wool  is  delivered  in  soft  strands,  which 
are  taken  ofiF  by  the  dofTer  comb  and 
wound  upon  a  wooden  roll  into  the 
shajjc  of  a  large  ball,  known  as  a  card- 
ball  or  card-sliver,  or  put  into  a  re- 
volving can.  The  sliver  from  a  number 
of  these  balls  or  cans  is  now  taken  and 
put  through  what  is  known  as  the  gill- 
ing  machine,  which  to  a  degree 
straightens  the  fibres. 


From  the  gilling  machine  the  wool 
comes  off  in  soft  strands.  Four  strands 
are  then  taken  to  the  balling  machine, 
where  is  made  a  large  ball,  ready  for 
the  combing.  It  takes  eighteen  of  these 
balls  to  make  a  set  or  fill  up  the  comb. 

The  dyeing  is  done  in  three  ways — 
in  the  top,  in  the  thread  or  skein  after 
being  spun,  or  in  the  piece  after  it  is 
woven.  If  the  wool  is  to  be  stock  dyed 
— that  is,  dyed  in  the  top — it  is  sent  to 
the  dyehouse  to  be  dyed  the  shade  re- 
quired, and  afterwards  returned  to  be 
gilled  and  recombed  ready  for  the 
drawing. 

Up  to  this  point  there  has  been  no 
twist  given  to  the  wool,  nor  any  ap- 
pearance of  a  thread.  The  top,  the  soft 
untwisted  end,  is  now  run  through  the 
drawing   machine,    the    process    some- 


Copyrlglii  American  Woolen  Conipun: 
WORSTED  CARDING 


Copyright  American  Woolen  Company 
GILLING    AFTliR  CARDING 

times  consisting  of  nine  distinct  opera- 
tions, and  is  drawn  and  redrawn  until 
reduced  to  the  size  required  for  its 
special  purpose ;  and  the  stock  is  then 
delivered  to  the  spinning  room  on 
spools,  and  is  called  roving. 

In  the  spinning  the  process  of  draw- 
ing continues  until  the  twisted  thread 
is  reduced  to  the  size  required,  which, 
either  singly  or  twisted  together  in  two, 
three  or  four  strands,  is  to  be  used  for 
weaving. 

The  yarn  is  then  very  carefully  in- 
spected, and  all  imperfections  which 
would  show  in  the  finished  goods  are 
removed,  and,  if  it  is  to  be  dyed  in  the 
skein,  the  yarn  is  taken  to  a  reel,  where 
the  skeins  are  made  ready  for  the  dye- 
house. 

The  threads  must  now  be  prepared 
for  the  loom,  in  order  that  the  actual 
weaving  may  be  done.  The  thread  is 
used  in  two  ways  in  weaving — as  warp, 
which  is  the  thread  which  runs  length- 
wise of  the  cloth,  and  as  filling,  or 
woof,  which  runs  across  the  cloth  from 
side  to  side. 

The  warp  threads — the  threads  which 


CopyriijtiL  American  Woolen  Company 
GILLIXG   ANT)   lL\KrN"G  TOP  AFTER  COMBIKG 


Copyright  Amcrrcan  Wuoicn  Cuiiiuaii.\ 
COMBING 

run  lengthwise  of  the  cloth — are  sized 
and  wound  upon  large  reels,  and  from 
these  transferred  to  a  large  wooden  roll 
called  the  warp  beam,  which  holds  all 
the  warp  threads,  usually  several  thou- 
sands. 

The  filling  threads  are  put  on  shuttle 
bobbins  and  placed  in  the  shuttles  to  be 
refilled  by  the  operatives  as  required, 
and  as  the  weaving  progresses. 

The  warp  beam  is  then  taken  to  the 
drawing-in  room,  w^here  these  several 
thousand  threads  are  drawn  through 
wire  heddles  in  a  frame  called  the  har- 
ness, then  drawn  through  a  wire  reed. 
The  completed  warp  beam  is  now  ready 
for   the   loom. 

The  harnesses  are  placed  in  the  loom, 
and  by  means  of  what  is  called  the 
"head-motion,"  part  of  the  threads  are 
n'ised  and  part  are  lowered.  This  al- 
lows the  filling  shuttles  to  pass  above 
some  threads  and  below  others,  filling 
out  the  pattern  required. 

The  cloth,  having  been  made  in  such 
length  as  is  desired,  is  taken  from  the 
loom,  and,  by  w^hat  is  known  as  burling 
and  mending,  any  knots  or  threads 
woven  in  wrongly  are  removed,  and  any 
imperfections  which  have  been  discov- 
ered through  a  careful  examination 
are  corrected. 

The  web  or  cloth  is  scoured  or 
washed  and  the  oil  and  any  foreign 
matter  removed. 

Undressed  fabrics  w^ould  now  be 
fulled.  This  consists  of  running  cloth 
through  a  fulling  machine,  where, 
moistened  with  a  specially  prepared 
soap,  it  is  subjected  to  a  great  pressure 
and  pounding,  w^hich  aids  in  giving  the 
required  finish. 


There  are  different  kinds  of  finishes 
which  require  different  treatments,  and 
it  would  be  impracticable  for  us  to 
dwell  in  detail  upon  this  matter  here. 

If  dyed  in  the  piece,  the  web  or  cloth 
is  taken  to  the  dyehouse  and  dyed.  It 
is  thoroughly  rinsed,  all  moisture  is 
extracted  from  it,  and  it  is  dried. 

After  drying  the  cloth  is  run  through 
a  machine  by  which  it  is  brushed  and 
sheared,  the  brushing  lifting  the  long 
fibres,  and  the  shearing  cutting  them 
oft"  at  even  length.  The  cloth  is  put 
through  the  press,  which  irons  it  out, 
giving  it  the  lustre  or  the  finish  that  is 
desired.  It  is  examined  again  for  fur- 
ther imperfections,  and  if  such  have 
occurred  they  are  corrected. 

Measuring,  weighing,  rolling  and  tag- 
ging follow,  and  the  cloth  is  packed 
and  ready  for  the  market. 

Woolens  are  made  from  short  staple 
wools,  known  as  clothing  wools,  and 
in  the  finished  woolens  the  fibres  of  the 
yarns  cross  or  are  mingled  together. 
Ill  the  case  of  woolens,  after  the  scour- 
ing, it  is  frequently  necessary  to  re- 
move burrs  or  other  vegetable  matter 
from  the  wool.  To  accomplish  this  the 
wool  is  dipped  in  a  bath  of  chloride  of 
aluminum   or    sulphuric   acid    solution, 


GILLING,   FIRST 
OPERATION 


ENGLISH 
DRAWING 


REDUCER 


ENGLISH 
DRAWING 


Cupyrigbt  American  Woolen  Company 


Copyright  Amerlcaa  Woolen  Comp.iny 


then  the  moisture  is  extracted  and  the 
wool  is  put  through  a  drier,  where  the 
temperature  must  be  at  least  212  de- 
grees. This  heat  carbonizes  the  foreign 
substance,  but  has  little  effect  on  the 
animal  fibres  of  the  w^ool. 

Next,  an  ingenious  machine  called 
the  burr  picker  removes  the  burr. 

Sometimes  there  is  to  be  a  blend  of 
the  wool  with  other  stocks,  and  in  that 
case  the  several  different  wools  are 
mixed  together. 

Dyeing  of  woolens  is  done  in  three 
ways — in  the  wool,  in  the  thread  after 
it  is  spun,  or  in  the  piece  after  it  is 
woven.  If  the  wool  is  to  be  "dyed  in 
the  wool"  it  is  now  conveyed  to  the 
dyehouse,  dyed  the  shade  required, 
then  returned  to  the  mixing  room. 

During  the  process  of  scouring, 
when  the  yolk  was  removed,  a  large 
part  of  the  natural  oil  of  the  wool  was 
also  eliminated,  and,  in  order  to  restore 
this  lubricant,  the  wool  is  sprinkletl 
with  an  oil  emulsion,  and  the  mi.xing 
l)icker  thoroughly  blends  the  wools. 

From  here  the  wool  goes  to  the  card- 
room,  and  by  means  of  the  carding  ma- 
(  hinc  the  fibres  arc  carded  and  drawn 
r<iid  (IcHvered  to  the  finisher  in  a  broad, 
fiat  sh(.-et.      I'v  means  of  tlu'  coiuienser 


S8 


HOW   THE   CLOTH   IS   MADE   PERFECT 


The  finishing  processes  of  woolens, 
like  the  finishing  processes  of  worsteds, 
vary  with  different  fabrics,  some  fab- 
rics being  scoured  and  cleansed  in  the 
washers  before  fulling,  others  going  to 
the  fulling  mill  without  cleansing. 
After  fulling,  the  cloth  is  again  washed 
and  rinsed,  and  if  necessary  to  remove 
any  vegetable  fibres  it  is  carbonized. 

Napping  or  gigging  raises  the  fibres 
to   tiie  na]i   dcsircvl.      digging  is   done 


CopyrlKlit  Aiiu-rlcaii  Woolen  Company 
MENDING  ROOM 


iURLING  RAISING  KNOTS 


it  is  divided  into  narrow  bands,  and 
the  wool — free  as  yet  from  twist — 
comes  out  in  soft  strands.  These 
strands  or  threads  are  called  roping^ 

Now  comes  the  mule  spinning.  The 
roping  passes  through  rolls  by  which 
it  is  drawn  and  twisted  to  the  size  re- 
quired, and  wound  on  paper  cop  tubes 
or  bobbins.  Such  of  the  yarn  as  is  to 
be  used  for  warp  is  then  spooled  from 
the  bobbins  to  dresser  spools.  It  is 
sized  and  wound  upon  large  reels :  from 
these  transferred  to  the  warp  beam,  ^s 
in  the  case  of  worsteds. 

The  processes  of  drawing-in,  prepa- 
ration for  weaving,  burling  and  mend- 
ing are  practically  the  same  as  in  the 
case  of  worsteds. 


CopjTlRht  Amerlcaii 
Woolen  Co. 


Cop^Tll?ht  American  Woolen  Co. 
XA-EA^TS'G  AND  SCOURING 


SPINNING   THE   WOOL 


89 


ENGLISH    CAP 
SPINNING 


Copyright  Amerlcau  VVooleu  Company 


by  means  of  a  wire  napping  machine 
or  teasel  gig,  which  raises  the  ends  of 
the  fibres  on  the  face  of  the  cloth.  The 
teasel  is  a  vegetable  product  about  the 
shape  of  a  pine  cone,  and  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  no  mechanical  con- 
trivance has  ever  been  invented  to  equal 
it  for  the  purpose. 


The  napping  which  has  been  raised 
by  the  teasel  is  sheared  or  cut  to  a 
proper  length  by  machine.  The  cloth  is 
pressed,  and,  if  it  is  desired  to  finish  it 
with  lustre,  it  is  wound  upon  copper 
cylinders  and  steam  is  forced  through 
it  at  a  high  pressure. 

Next  the  cloth  is  dyed,  if  it  is  to  be 


Copyright  American  Woolen  Company 
RING  TWISTING 


Copyright  American  WdoIcm  i  (iiiipany 
BEAMINC; — YARN     INSPEl  IIXT. 


f  oiiyrlKht  American  \\  rjoUn  (  oinpriny 
WOOLEN  MULE  SPINNING 


(VipyrlKlii  Amcrlrnn  Woolen  Company 
FINISIIKK    WOOl.lON    CARDING 


90 


THE  CLOTH   IS  READY   FOR  THE  TAILOR 


piece-dyed — that  is,  dyed  in 
the  piece.  If  the  cloth  is  a 
mixture,  the  wool  was  dyed 
immediately  after  the  scour- 
ing. In  worsteds  the  dyeing 
is  done  either  just  after  it  has 
been  subjected  to  the  first 
combing  processes,  or  the 
yarn  is  dyed  in  the  skein  or 
hank. 

In  the  dry  finishing  the 
cloth  is  finished 
with  various  kinds 
of  finishes  desired, 
and  it  is  steamed, 
brushed,  sheared 
and  pressed.  An- 
other examination 
for  any  imperfec- 
tions or  defects 
f  ollo\vs  ;  the  cloth 
is  measured,  packed 
and  tagged  and  is 
ready  for  the  mar- 
ket. 

T  h  e  dift"crence 
between  worsteds 
a  n  d  woolens  is 
principally  that  in 
the  threads  or 
yarns    from   which 

worsteds  are  made  the  fibres  of  the  wool  lie 
parallel,    one    to    another,    being   made    from 
combed    wool,    from   which    the    short   fibres 
have  been   removed ;   and   woolens  are  made 
from  yarns  in  which  the  fibres  cross  and  are 
matted    and    inter- 
mixed.   When  fin- 
ished the  efifect  of 
worsteds  and  wool- 
ens    is     materially 
dift"erent.  Upon  ex- 
amination it  will  be 
found     that     the 
worsted  thread  re- 
sembles  a   wire   in 
evenness,  while  the 
woolen    thread     is 
uneven  and  irregu- 
lar. 

A  w^orsted  fabric  when  finished  has  woolen  cloths  are  softer,  they  are  more 
a  clear,  bright,  well  defined  pattern,  elastic,  the  colors  are  more  blended,  the 
seems  close  and  firmly  woven,  and  is  threads  are  not  so  easily  distinguishable 
of  a  pronounced   dressy  efifect ;  while     and  the  general  efifect  is  duller. 


Copyright  American  Woolen.Compaiiy 
FINISH   PERCHING 


Copyright  American  Woolen  Company 
FINISHED   CLOTH,   READY  FOR   THE   TAILOR 


WHY   WE   CANNOT  SEE   IN  THE   DARK 


91 


Why  Can't  We  See  in  the  Dark? 

We  cannot  see  in  the  dark  because 
there  is  no  Hght  to  see  by.  To  under- 
stand this  we  must  first  understand  that 
when  we  see  a  thing,  as  we  generally 
say,  we  do  not  actually  see  the  thing 
itself,  but  only  the  light  coming  from  it. 
But  we  have  become  so  used  to  saying 
that  we  see  the  thing  itself  that  for  all 
practical  purposes  we  can  accept  that 
a'J  true,  although  it  is  not  scientifically 
exact.  Scientifically  speaking,  we  see 
thflt  part  of  the  sunlight  or  other  light 
v/hich  is  shining  upon  it,  which  the  ob- 
ject is  able  to  reflect. 

If  there  were  no  air  about  us  we  could 
not  hear  any  sounds,  no  matter  how 
much  disturbance  people  or  things  cre- 
ated, because  it  requires  air  to  cause 
the  sound  waves  which  produce  sound, 
and  air  also  to  carry  the  sound  waves 
to  our  ears.  In  the  same  way,  if  there 
is  no  light  to  produce  light  rays  from 
any  given  object  to  our  eyes,  we  can 
r,ee  nothing.  It  requires  light  waves  to 
produce  the  reflections  of  objects  to  our 
eyes.  Without  light  our  eyes  and  their 
delicate  organs  are  useless.  You  can- 
not see  yourself  in  a  mirror  when  the 
quicksilver  which  was  once  on  the  back 
ot  the  glass  has  been  removed,  because 
there  is  then  nothing  to  reflect  the 
hght.  We  can  only  see  things  when 
there  is  light  enough  about  to  reflect 
things  to  our  eyes.  When  it  is  dark 
there  is  no  light,  and  that  is  the  reason 
we  cannot  see  anything  in  the  dark. 

Why  Can  Cats  and  Some  Other  Animals 

See  in  the  Dark? 

They  cannot  see  in  the  real  dark  any 
more  than  human  beings.  These  ani- 
mals can  find  their  way  in  the  dark 
anfl  can  see  more  than  a  human  being, 
because  of  one  distinct  difference  in 
their  eyes,  which  may  for  them  bo  con- 
sidered an  advantage.  The  i)Upils  of 
their  eyes  can  be  made  much  larger, 
and  they  can,  therefore,  let  more  light 
into  their  eyes  than  j)eo])lc.  The  result 
is  that  when  it  is  so  dark  that  y(ju  can- 
not see  a  thing  and  you  decide  it  is 
really  dark,  the  cat  can  still  see,  be- 
cause there  is  always  a  little  more  light 
left  and  she  can  open  the  pupils  of  her 


eyes  and  make  them  larger,  thus  letting 
in  more  light,  and  the  little  bit  of  light 
there  is  still  left  gets  into  her  eyes  and 
she  is  able  to  see.  But  in  a  really  dark 
room  a  cat  could  see  no  more  than  you 
can.  You  see,  our  eyes  open  and  shut 
more  or  less  just  like  those  of  the  cat, 
according  to  the  intensity  of  the  light. 
When  you  go  out  of  the  dark  and 
shaded  room  into  the  bright  sunlight 
and  look  at  the  sun,  you  naturally 
squint  your  eyes  without  deliberately 
intending  to  do  so.  This  is  nature's 
way  of  preventing  too  much  light  get- 
ting into  your  eyes  at  one  time.  Grad- 
ually the  pupils  of  your  eyes  contract 
and  get  smaller,  until  you  can  see,  with- 
out squinting,  anything  in  the  sunlight. 
If,  then,  you  were  to  go  right  back 
into  a  dark  or  shaded  room,  you  would 
have  to  wait  a  moment  or  two  before 
you  could  see  things  distinctly  in  the 
room — until  the  pupils  of  your  eyes 
had  dilated  (become  larger),  so  as  to 
let  in  enough  light  to  enable  you  to  see 
normally.  The  eye  automatically  en- 
larges and  contracts  the  pupil  of  the 
eye,  to  enable  us  to  see  distinctly  in 
either  light  or  less  light  places. 

Why  Is  It  Difficult  to  Walk  Straight 

with  My  Eyes  Closed? 

The  reason  we  cannot  do  this  always 
is  because  when  we  walk  naturally  the 
steps  taken  by  our  right  and  left  feet 
are  not  of  equal  length.  This  difference 
in  the  length  of  the  steps  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  our  legs  are  never  exactly 
the  same  length.  W^e  think  of  them 
generally  as  of  the  same  length,  but 
they  are  not,  and  this  will  be  proven  if 
you  measure  them  accurately.  Now, 
then,  the  longer  of  the  legs  will  always 
take  a  longer  step  than  the  shorter  one, 
and  so,  if  our  eyes  are  shut,  we  walk  in 
circles,  unless  we  have  something  to 
guide  us.  WHien  we  walk  with  our  eyes 
open,  we  are  able  to  overcome  the 
tendency  to  walk  in  circles,  because 
our  eves  lu'lp  llic  l)i";iin  to  direct 
the  legs  on  a  straight  course.  Another 
reason  which  affects  the  matter  is 
that  our  eyes  are  very  necessary  in 
Keeping  our  l)0(h'es  balanced  on  our 
feet,   and    it    is    very    difficult   to   learn 


92 


WHAT   MAKES   US   LAUGH   WHEN    GLAD? 


to  keep  the  body  balanced  with  the  eyes 
closed.  Now,  when  your  eyes  are 
closed  and  you  attempt  to  walk  in  a 
straight  line  your  body  balances  from 
one  side  to  the  other,  and  this  fact, 
coujiled  with  the  first  reason  given, 
makes  your  course  irregular.  But,  say 
you,  the  man  on  the  tight-rope  has  his 
eyes  bandaged  and  he  walks  a  very 
straight  line.  Yes ;  but  remember  that 
he  has  a  straight  tight-rope  to  guide 
him,  and  all  he  needs  is  to  maintain  his 
balance.  One  can  learn  to  walk  in  a 
straight  line  with  the  eyes  closed,  but 
it  takes  a  good  deal  of  practice,  as  you 
will  learn  if  you  try. 

Why   Can't   We   Sleep  with   Our  Eyes 

Open? 

W'e  cannot  sleep  with  our  eyes  open, 
because  to  be  asleep  involves  losing 
control  of  most  of  the  functions  of  the 
body.  When  we  sleep  the  brain  sleeps 
also.  Perhaps  it  would  be  stated  more 
clearly  to  say  that  w^e  cannot  sleep  while 
the  part  of  the  brain  which  controls 
our  activities  is  awake.  There  is  a  part 
of  the  brain  which  has  the  power  to 
open  our  eyes,  i.  e.,  hft  the  eyelids, 
and  when  that  portion  of  the  brain 
ceases  to  exercise  its  power  to  keep  the 
eyes  open,  they  go  shut.  Even  when 
we  are  awake  that  part  of  our  brain 
cannot  keep  our  eyes  from  winking, 
because  there  is  another  part  of  the 
brain  which  sees  to  it  that  our  eyes 
wink  every  so  often.  This  is  done  for 
the  purpose  of  washing  the  eye-ball, 
and  is  the  answer  to  another  of  your 
questions  which  is  given  in  another 
place  in  this  book.  When  the  engineer 
at  the  electric  light  plant  shuts  ofif  the 
power  all  the  lights  go  out,  and  when 
you  go  to  sleep  you  automatically  shut 
off  the  power  that  opens  your  eyes,  and 
the  eyes  are  shut.  The  brain  is  asleep 
also,  and  if  it  is  not  completely  asleep, 
you  are  restless. 

Why  Do  Our  Eyes  Sparkle  When  We 

Are  Merry? 

If  you  should  watch  very  closely  the 
eyes  of  a  merry  person  when  you  see 
them  sparkle  you  would  probably  notice 
that   the   eyelids   move   up   and   down 


more  often  under  such  conditions  than 
ordinarily,  and  if  you  know  what  mov- 
ing the  eyelids  up  and  down  in  front 
of  the  pupil  of  the  eye  does,  you  will 
have  your  answer. 

Every  time  the  eyelid  comes  down  it 
releases  a  little  tear,  which  spreads  over 
the  eyeball  and  washes  it  clean  and 
bright.  It  docs  this  every  time  the  eye- 
lid comes  down.  Now,  there  is  some- 
thing about  being  merry  which  has  the 
effect  of  making  the  eyelids  dance  up 
and  down,  and  thus,  every  time  the  lid 
comes  down,  the  ball  of  the  eye  is 
v/ashed  clean  and  bright,  and  gives  it 
the  appearance  of  si)arkling,  as  we  say. 

Why  Do  We  Laugh  When  Glad? 

We  laugh  when  glad  because  the 
things  which  make  us  laugh  combine 
together  to  rouse  those  parts  of  the 
body  which  are  involved  in  a  good 
laugh  to  act  in  a  certain  harmony,  and 
when  this  combination  is  arranged  in  a 
certain  way  it  produces  a  laugh.  Cer- 
tain things  in  the  w^orld,  whether  they 
are  funny,  ludicrous,  or  other  things 
that  produce  the  laughing  effect,  cause 
the  brain  to  work  certain  muscles  and 
nerves  in  a  combination  that  produces 
a  laugh.  The  impression  which  reaches 
the  brain  causes  these  muscles  and 
n.erves  to  act  involuntarily  and  the 
laugh  comes.  It  works  just  like  the 
keys  of  the  piano.  Some  combinations 
of  notes  produce  sad  sounds  and  other 
combinations  produce  glad  sounds,  but 
the  combination  when  once  touched  will 
always  produce  the  same  sound.  It  is 
the  impressions  made  on  the  brain 
which  start  the  proper  combination,  and 
it  does  this  instantly.  Just  as  a  pin  prick 
in  the  arm  will  at  once  send  a  "hurt" 
message  to  the  brain  and  cause  the 
brain  to  jerk  the  arm  away,  so  a  laugh- 
producing  combination  of  sounds,  or 
tilings  we  see,  or  feel,  sends  an  im- 
pression to  the  brain  which  at  once 
sends  out  the  "laugh"  order.  Some 
things  make  some  people  laugh  while 
they  do  not  affect  others  at  all.  That 
is  because  our  brains  are  not  always 
the  same  in  regard  to  recording  impres- 
sions. Some  things  impress  some  brains 
one  w^ay  and  others  entirely  in  a  dif- 


WHY  WE   CRY  WHEN   HURT 


93 


ferent  way  or  not  at  all.  You  do  not 
laugh  so  heartily  the  second  time  you 
hear  a  funny  story,  because  the  impres- 
sion the  brain  receives  when  the  story 
is  told  the  second  time  is  not  so  vivid. 

Why  Do  I  Laugh  When  Tickled? 

Practically  the  same  things  happen 
when  we  are  tickled,  and  explains 
why  you  laugh  when  tickled.  When 
some  one  tickles  the  bottom  of  your 
feet  or  your  ribs  or  another  part  of 
your  body  it  produces,  in  most  cases, 
the  same  efifect  on  the  brain  as  the 
laugh-producing  sound  or  sight,  and 
arouses  the  same  combination  of 
muscles  and  nerves  to  activity.  It  is 
just  like  pushing  the  button  of  an  elec- 
tric bell.  \\'hen  you  push  the  button 
the  contact  produces  the  spark  which 
sets  the  machinery  of  the  bell  in  motion 
and  the  bell  rings  and  will  continue  to 
ring  as  long  as  you  keep  your  finger 
on  the  button,  or  until  the  spark-pro- 
ducing power  of  the  battery  is  gone. 
Then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  bell,  you 
cease  to  laugh,  because  the  spark  that 
produced  the  laugh  combination  is  gone. 
That  is  why  some  things  tickle  some 
people  very  much  and  do  not  affect 
others.  Some  are  not  so  sensitive  to 
the  laugh-producing  combination  as 
others.  After  the  thing  that  tickles  you 
has  been  going  on  for  some  time  you 
are  not  tickled  into  laughter  any  more, 
because  the  impression  on  the  brain 
ceases  to  be  as  strong. 

Why  Don't   I   Laugh   When   I   Tickle 

Myself? 

Your  mind  tells  you  there  is  no  need 
to  laugh  when  you  tickle  yourself. 
Your  mind  will  not  respond  to  the 
tickling  sensation  when  it  is  aware  that 
the  cause  of  the  tickle  is  yourself.  The 
reflex  action  of  the  mind  which  causes 
laughter  and  squirming  when  some  one 
else  tickles  you  only  acts  when  it  is  not 
conscious  of  the  cause. 

The  whole  purpose  of  the  sensitive 
organization  of  our  skins  is  to  give  us 
information  and  cause  action  which  will 
enable  us  to  protect  ourselves  when  any 
outside  influence  touches  us.  An  inju- 
rious touch  causes  shock  and  pain,  and 


the  harmless  tickle  arouses  the  laugh- 
ing and  squirming  sensation. 

What  Happens  When  We  Laugh? 

Laughter  is  what  we  call  a  reflex 
action.  When  something  occurs  to 
make  us  laugh,  whether  it  is  something 
we  see,  or  feel,  or  hear,  it  is  because 
certain  sensory  nerves  receive  an  im- 
pression in  one  of  three  ways,  carry 
it  to  the  nerve  centre  and  the  nerve 
centre  then  sends  the  same  impression 
along  certain  efferent  nerves,  which 
connect  with  certain  muscles  or  glands, 
and  excite  them  to  activity.  The  action 
is  practically  the  same  as  when  you 
hold  a  light  before  a  mirror.  The  rays 
from  the  light  strike  the  surface  of  the 
mirror  and  are  reflected  back  from  the 
surface,  lighting  perhaps  corners  of  the 
room,  which  the  direct  rays  from  the 
light  could  not  reach,  all  depending 
upon  the  angle  of  reflection.  Light  will 
always  reflect  from  a  mirror  that  is 
exposed  to  it. 

Now,  then,  when  you  see,  hear  or 
feel  anything  that  makes  you  laugh,  the 
sensory  nerves  have  only  to  receive  the 
impression  to  bring  on  the  explosion  of 
laughter.  Something  touched  the  laugh 
nerves  or  the  laugh  trigger  that  caused 
it  to  go  off.  You  can  prove  that  it  is 
a  matter  of  impression  entirely  by  not- 
ing that  some  people  can  listen  to  a  per- 
fectly funny  story,  even  when  told  by  a 
clever  performer,  and  never  crack  a 
smile,  while  others  burst  into  uncon- 
trollable laughter,  and  he  who  does  not 
even  smile  may  be  listening  even  more 
intently  than  the  other — he  may  even 
be  looking  for  a  laugh.  It  all  depends 
upon  the  impression  that  is  made  upon 
the  nerves.  The  muscles  have  the 
power  to  express  the  state  of  gladness 
which  is  indicated  by  laughter  when 
certain  imjiressions  pass  along  the 
nerves  which  operate  them,  just  as  they 
can  be  made  to  do  other  things  when 
the  proper  cause  for  action  is  shown 
them. 

Why  Do  We  Cry  When  Hurt? 

We  cry  when  we  are  hurt  for  the 
same  reason  that  we  laugh  when  we 
are    glad.      The    nuisclcs    and    nerves, 


94 


WHERE   DO   TEARS   COME   FROM  ? 


under  the  direction  of  the  l^raiii.  pro- 
duce the  cry  just  as  the  muscles  and 
nerves  prockice  laughter,  although  they 
are  probably,  but  not  necessarily,  a  dif- 
ferent set  of  muscles  and  nerves. 

When  we  are  hurt  in  any  part  of  our 
bodv  or  feelings  the  impression  does 
not  affect  us  until  it  reaches  the  brain. 
Then  instantly,  of  course,  the  body 
and  brain  go  to  work  to  destroy  the 
pain.  The  first  thing,  of  course,  is  to 
give  a  warning  to  other  parts  of  the 
body  that  there  is  a  hurt,  and  our  cry- 
ing is  a  warning  to  other  people  that 
we  are  hurt.  That  is  probably  the  only 
good  that  crying  does.  It  does  not 
remove  the  hurt — it  only  tells  others  of 
our  troubles.  We  cry  with  the  lower 
part  of  the  brain — the  only  portion  of 
the  brain  which  is  active  in  a  little 
baby.  This  is  why  even  a  tiny  baby 
can  cry.  Crying  is  the  only  thing  a 
baby  can  do  to  give  warning  of  its  dis- 
tress or  discomfort.  Later  in  life  the 
upper  part  of  the  brain  develops.  This 
is  the  master  of  the  lower  part.  There- 
fore, we  do  not  always  cry  when  hurt 
as  we  grow  older,  because  the  master 
brain  sometimes  tells  the  lower  brain 
that  to  cry  will  not  help  matters  in  the 
least,  even  though  we  are  inclined  to 
cry.  Sometimes  the  hurt  or  shock  to 
older  people  is  so  great  or  sudden 
that  we  cry  out  before  the  controlling 
part  of  the  brain  has  had  time  to  get 
in  its  work  of  preventing  the  outcry, 
but  we  are  able  to  stop  crying  when 
the  master  brain  again  secures  control. 

Where  Do  Tears  Come  From? 

Tears  are  not  made  only  when  we 
cry.  They  seem  to  come  only  when  you 
cry,  because  it  is  then  that  they  spill 
over.  A  little  part  of  you  is  making 
tears  all  the  time,  and  your  eyes  are 
constantly  washing  themselves  in  them. 
You  have  often  noticed  how  you  wink 
every  few  seconds?  You  have  often 
tried  to  keep  from  winking — to  see 
how  long  you  could  keep  from  wink- 
ing. Boys  and  girls  often  do  that,  anrl 
when  you  keep  from  winking  what 
seems  a  long  time,  you  notice  how  your 
eyes  ache  and  feel  very  dry  just  before 
you  have  to  let  them  wink,  in  spite  of 


how  hard  you  try  not  to,  and  just 
when  you  think  you  are  not  going  to. 
I  will  tell  you  just  what  winking  does 
for  the  eyes.  All  of  the  time  your  eyes 
are  open  the  front,  or  the  part  you  see 
things  with,  is  exposed  to  the  dust  and 
dirt  that  fills  the  air  at  all  times,  al- 
tliough  we  cannot  always  see  the  dust. 
'J  he  wind,  too,  is  constantly  making 
them  dry.  But  have  you  ever  noticed 
tiiat  although  you  never  wash  the  in- 
side of  the  front  of  the  eye,  or  pupil, 
it  is  always  clean  ?  Well,  it  is  because 
your  eye  washes  itself  every  time  you 
wink.  I  will  tell  you  how  this  is  done. 
Up  above  each  eye,  inside,  of  course, 
there  is  a  little  gland  called  the  tear- 
gland.  This  gland  is  busy  all  the  time 
you  are  awake  making  tears.  As  soon 
as  the  front  of  your  eye  becomes  dry, 
or  if  a  particle  of  dust  or  anything  else 
strikes  it,  the  nerves  you  have  there 
tell  the  brain,  and  almost  at  once  the 
eyelid  comes  down  with  a  tear  inside 
of  it,  and  so  washes  the  front  of  your 
eye  clean  again.  It  does  its  work  per- 
fectly and  as  often  as  necessary.  There 
is  always  a  tear  ready  to  be  used  in  this 
way. 

Where  Do  the  Tears  Go  ? 

Let  me  show  you.  Look  right  down 
here  at  the  inner  corner  of  my  eyelid, 
v.here  you  will  see  a  little  hole.  That 
is  where  the  tears  get  out  of  the  eye, 
when  they  have  washed  your  eyeball 
clean.  Wliere  do  they  go  then?  Did 
you  ever  notice  how  soon  after  you 
cry  you  have  to  blow  your  nose?  The 
reason  for  that  is  that  when  the  tears 
go  through  the  little  hole  they  run 
down  into  the  nose.  This  making  of 
tears  and  winking  goes  on  all  the  time 
while  you  are  awake,  and  after  they 
wash  your  eye  off  they  go  on  out 
through  this  little  hole.  But  when  you 
cry  you  make  more  tears  come  than 
you  need,  so  many,  in  fact,  that  they 
cannot  all  get  away  through  this  little 
hole,  and  as  there  is  no  place  else  for 
them  to  go,  and  as  there  is  no  place 
to  keep  them  inside  the  eye,  they  simply 
s])ill  themselves  right  over  the  edge  of 
your  lower  eyelid  and  run  down  your 
cheek. 


Story  in   a   Barrel   of  Cement 


What  Is  Cement? 

The  dictionary  tells  us  that  cement 
is  "any  adhesive  substance  which  makes 
two  bodies  cohere."  Thus  any  material 
performing  this  function  may  be  called 
Cement,  such,  for  example,  as  the  ce- 
ment used  in  mending  broken  china. 
Glue  also  is  a  form  of  cement.  This 
story  has  to  do  with  Portland  cement, 
which  is  a  structural  or  building  ma- 
terial used  in  countless  w^ays. 

Why   Is    Cement    Called   Portland    Ce- 
ment? 

After  being  wet  with  water  it  hard- 
ens into  stone,  and  it  was  given  the 
name  "Portland"  because,  when  first 
manufactured  in  England,  and  mixed 
with  sand  and  stone,  it  resembled  a 
celebrated  building  stone  called  Port- 
land, which  was  obtained  from  the  Isle 
of  Portland.  Compared  wnth  other 
American  industries,  the  manufacture 
of  Portland  cement  is  of  recent  origin. 
Formerly  all  Portland  cement  was 
brought  from  foreign  countries.  After 
successful  manufacture  became  estab- 
lished in  this  country,  however,  the 
industry  advanced  with  great  rapidity. 
A  few  years  ago  the  entire  United 
States  did  not  use  as  much  cement  as 
is  now  used  in  any  one  of  our  large 
cities.  At  the  time  these  facts  were 
written  (1914)  the  manufacturers  were 
making  more  than  90  millions  of  barrels 
a  year. 

What  Is  Cement  Made  Of? 

Portland  cement  is  composed  chiefly 
cf  lime,  alumina  and  silica.  It  is  manu- 
factured from  rocks,  marl,  clay  and 
shale  containing  these  ingredients,  i  f 
any  one  of  them  is  lacking  in  the  raw 
material  as  it  is  taken  from  the  earth, 
il  is  supplied  during  process  of  manu- 
facture. The  greatest  cement  district 
in  America  is  in  Pennsylvania,  and  is 
known  as  the  "Ix-high  District."  A 
rock  containing  proper  constituents  for 
making    rortlntul    cement    was    found 


there  in  vast  quantities,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  the  Lehigh  District  was 
the  center  of  the  industry.  In  time 
it  was  found  that  certain  clays,  marls 
cind  shale  could  also  be  manufactured 
into  Portland  cement,  and  thus  mills 
have  been  erected  in  all  sections  of  the 
United  States.  One  of  the  largest  com- 
panies in  the  United  States  found  that 
cement  could  be  manufactured  from  a 
combination  of  blast-furnace  slag  and 
limestone,  and  this  is  now  made  by  the 
company  in  large  quantities,  the  product 
being  a  true  Portland  cement. 

What  Is  Concrete? 

Portland  cement  is  the  strongest  and 
most  lasting  of  all  modern  mortars  or 
binding  materials.  When  mixed  with 
sand  and  stone  the  resulting  mixture 
is  called  concrete.  Being  a  plastic  ma- 
terial when  first  mixed,  it  cannot  be 
used  as  we  use  brick  or  stone,  but  must 
be  poured  into  molds  or  forms,  which 
hold  it  in  place  until  it  hardens  into 
rock.  It  may  be  cast  in  any  form 
or  shape,  and  thus  it  is  useful  for  a 
vast  number  of  purposes.  It  will 
harden  under  water,  and  time  and  ex- 
posure to  the  elements  merely  increase 
its  strength.  The  most  common  form 
in  which  it  is  used,  one  familiar  to 
everybody,  is  in  the  construction  of 
sidewalks.  It  is  used  in  all  great  en- 
gineering projects,  such  as  the  build- 
ing of  dams,  bridges,  retaining  walls, 
sewers,  subways  and  tunnels.  Being 
fireproof,  large  quantities  of  it  are  used 
in  buildings  and  likewise  on  our  farms, 
where  it  is  extremely  valuable  as  an 
enduring   and    sanitary    material. 

What  Is  Cement  Used  For? 

It  has  been  said  tliat  concrete  is  a 
plastic  material,  meaning  that  it  is  soft 
and  pliable  in  the  sense  that  clay  or 
])utty  are  plastic.  I'^or  this  reason  it  is 
cast  in  forms  or  molds.  .Sometimes  it 
is  used  in  the  form  of  plain  concrete, 
and  on  other  occasions  it  is  reinforced. 


00 


WHAT  A  CEMENT  A\ILL  LOOKS  LIKE 


This  is  a  picture  of  a  cement  mill.  Millions  of  dollars  are  invested  in  these  great  mills,  which  arc 
now  located  in  practically  all  sections  of  the  country.  Material  is  brought  from  the  quarry  to  the 
mills,  where  it  passes  through  various  stages,  such  as  grinding,  burning  and  bagging.  Expert  chemists 
are  employed  to  see  that  the  cement  is  made  exactly  right.  It  is  a  very  scientific  matter  to  make  a 
thoroughly  good  cement.  There  must  be  no  guess  work.  Some  mills  are  very  large,  the  plant  com- 
prising a  number  of  buildings,  and  some  companies  operate  several  mills  in  different  localities.  A  single 
company  supplied  all  of  the  cement  used  in  the  Panama  Canal,  which  great  project  required  more  than 
si.x    million    barrels. 


This  picture  shows  a  auarrv  in  the  famous  Lehigh  cement  district.  The  giant  steam  shovel  or 
exca\-ator  burrows  into  the  hill  like  some  great  animal,  and  when  the  bucket  is  full  it  is  dumped  into 
the  cars  sho\*-n  on  the  track,  which  convey  the  rock  or  the  raw  material  to  the  mill. 


WHERE  THE  MATERIAL  IS  OBTAINED 


97 


This  is  an  illustration  of  a  method  of  excavating  and  loading  marl  and  clay  to  be  manufactured 
into  Portland  cement.  The  large  bucket  suspended  over  the  cars  does  not  gouge  into  the  hillside  as 
shown  in  the  preceding  picture,  but  descends  like  a  huge  steel  hand,  the  metal  parts  opening  and 
closing    like    fingers.      The    long    derrick    elevates    the   bucket    and    swings    it    over    the    train    of    cars. 


This  is  a  view  of  a  powerful  rock  crusher,  which  is  opcraU-il  by  the  electric  motor  shown  at  the 
right.  The  cement  rock  is  brought  from  the  c|uarry  and  dumiici!  into  the  machine,  from  which  it 
issues  in  broken  fragments,  as  shown  in  the  illustration,  this  lieirig  the  lirst  or  preliminary  crushing 
process. 


This  is  a  view  of  llie  electric  motors  operating  the  grinding  machines  which  refhicc  the  raw  material 
to  a  very  fine  powder.  There  are  various  types  of  mills  or  grinders,  to  which  the  material  comes  after 
going   through  the   rock   crusher.      They   grind   it   in   preparation    for   the   kilns. 


The  kiln  is  a  very  important  feature  of  the  cement  plant.  The  finely  ground  raw  material  must 
be  calcined  or  burned  before  it  becomes  Portland  cement.  These  kilns  range  from  60  to  240  feet  in 
length.  They  are  slightly  inclined  and  revolve  upon  rollers.  The  finely  ground  material  enters  the 
kiln  at  the  upper  end  and  travels  throughout  its  length  as  the  kiln  slowly  revolves.  Powdered  coal 
dust  IS  fed  into  the  kiln  at  the  lower  end,  where  it  is  ignited  and  generates  intense  heat  When  the 
finely  ground  raw  material  comes  into  contact  with  the  heat,  which  reaches  2800  degrees  F.,  it  is 
transformed  into  what  is  known  as  clinker,  which  issues  from  the  lower  end  of  the  kiln  and  is  passed 
on   to   other   machinery,    which   grinds   it   into    impalpable    powder    or    Portland    cement. 


HOW  CONCRETE   IS  MIXED 


99 


This  is  an  ingenious  machine  which  bags  and  weighs  the  cement.  The  bags  are  suspended  as 
shown,  and  when  filled  and  weighed  by  the  machine  are  placed  in  barrels  and  shipped  to  their  destina- 
tion.    Every  device  of  this  kind  that  will   save  time  and   labor  cheapens  the  cost  of   manufacture. 


In  mixing;  cement,  sand  and  stone  together  in  order  that  concrete  may  be  obtained,  it  is  custornary 
to  use,  if  the  operation  is  a  large  one,  what  arc  known  as  mechanical  mixers.  These  are  large  iron 
cylinders  into  which  the  three  materials  are  put  and  wafer  added.  The  cylinder  or  iron  drum  revolves 
until  the  contents  are  thoroughly  mixed,  when  they  issue  fmni  the  mixer  through  a  diute  or  spout. 
A  mixer  of  this  type  is  shown  r>n  a  succeeding  i>age  descril)iiig  tlie  making  of  a  concrete  roatl.  Tliis 
picture  shows  mixing  concrete  by  hand.  The  sand  and  cement  arc  first  thoroughly  mixed'  in  the  dry 
state  ajid  suhsef|iiently  the  stone  and  water  are  addeil.  Concrete  should  be  Ihonmghly  mixed  in  order 
that  every  prain  of  sand  may  be  entirely  cr.ated  with  cement,  and  then  these  two  combined  make  a  rich 
mortar,    which    should    surround    entirely    every    jjiccc    of    btonc. 


100 


HOW  CONCRETE   BUILDINGS   ARE   MADE 


This  picture  shows  how  concrete  houses  or  walls  are  built  through  the  use  of  what  are  known 
as  forms.  In  building  a  wall  we  have  an  inside  and  outside  form,  as  shown  in  the  picture,  between 
which  the  concrete  is  placed.  After  it  hardens  the  forms  are  removed.  In  some  operations,  such 
as  the  construction  of  a  large  factory  building  or  great  bridge,  there  is  such  a  vast  array  of  timber 
construction  as  to  make  the  scene  quite  impressive,  especially  when  bridge  arches  of  great  span  and 
height    are    under    construction. 


This  is  a  view  of  an  arch  built  of  concrete  during  the  Jamestown  Exposition.  It  is  a  striking 
illustration  of  how  concrete  may  be  used  for  both  ornamental  and  practical  purposes.  In  no  field  has 
concrete  proved  to  be  of  more  value  and  economy  than  in  the  construction  of  bridges,  whether  large 
or  small.  Some  of  the  largest  bridges  in  the  world  are  built  of  concrete,  and  in  many  cases  iron 
bridges   are   incased  in   concrete   to   keep   them    from   rusting. 


CONCRETE   HOUSES   CANNOT  BURN 


101 


This  is  a  curious  example  of  concrete  construc- 
tion. It  is  a  coal  pocket,  from  which  locomotives 
are  supplied  with  fuel.  Railroad  companies  have 
adtopted  it  because  of  its  great  strength  and 
durability. 


Just  as  mammoth  structures  are  created  with 
poured  concrete,  so  we  may  produce  tlie  most 
delicate  and  ornamental  patterns.  These  are 
usually  cast  in  plaster  molds  and  often  in  molds 
of  wood  or  iron.  Where  undercut  work  is  re- 
quired, such  as  in  the  sun-dial  shown,  a  wood 
or  metal  mold  could  not  he  removed  without 
injury  to  the  concrete,  and  so  sculptors  have 
invented  the  pliable  glue  mold,  which  can  be 
easily  removed  and  which  will  spring  back  to 
its  original  shape  if  necessary  to  use  it  a  second 
time. 


mJ^ 

^^^^i 

r 

IP 

K  ■ 

H 

^^^^5 

HUBBhDm*'',' 

9!i 

lilLiMMM 

^^^ 

Concrete  in  dwcllioK  ci.umi  m  ii.,ii  nii-.m^  ih,-  rljiiiiii.ii  ii.n  i.f  ("nr  il;iiu:'i  :iii.|  .ilsn  cd-it  of  p.TintinK' 
and  repair*.  This  picture  hIiowh  a  Holii!  r(;ncretc  hniisc,  parts  nf  wliiih  have  been  cnrnistrd  witli 
brautiful  tilcH.  (  ..nrrftf  h.T«  been  turrrsvftiHv  tiscd  in  all  types  of  dwellings,  from  the  luimble  abode 
of  the  workiiiKman  to  the  p.nlnro  of  the  miiltimilllnn.Tirr.  An  entire  house  may  be  made  r)f  concrete, 
even  to  ihc  ripfif  anfj  ptairways,  and  where  a  dwellinfi;  is  constructed  of  this  material  throughout,  it  is 
proof    npnini-t    drr    and    rjci.iy. 


102 


HOW    THE    FARMER    USES   CONCRETE 


This  is  an  i:Ucrubt::ig  txaniplc  ul  concrete  Con- 
struction. It  is  a  large  water  tower  which  will 
never  warp,  rust  or  decay.  In  this  field  concrete 
has  been  of  great  service,  whether  reservoirs  are 
constructed  in  the  form  of  towers  or  tanks.  As 
already  stated,  water  does  not  affect  the  life  or 
strength    of    concrete,    except    to    improve    it. 


This  is  a  concrete  silo.  A  silo  made  of  con- 
crete is  merely  a  huge  stone  jar  in  which  green 
food  for  cattle  is  preserved.  The  crop  is  gath- 
ered and  placed  in  the  silo,  thus  insuring  abun- 
dance of  green  and  wholesome  food  throughout 
dry  seasons  and  during  the  winter.  The  contents 
of  the  silo  is  known  as  silage  or  ensilage,  and  is 
merely  corn  fodder  cut  when  green.  Concrete 
silos  are  both  storm-  and'  fire-proof. 


It  is  usual  to  conMder  concrete  in  connection  with  great  engineering  enterprises,  but  nevertheless 
many  millions  of  barrels  are  used  each  year  by  the  farmers  of  the  United  States.  This  picture  shows 
a  clean,  sanitary  and  durable  concrete  stable.  In  buildings  of  this  character  concrete  is  rapidly  sup- 
planting ■wood,  which  soon  goes  to  decay,  to   say  nothing  of  accumulation   of  filth. 


HOW  CONCRETE   ROADS   ARE   BUILT 


103 


MECHANICAL    CEMKNT    MIXER 


A   CONCBUiTE    kUAU 


Our  two  last  pictures  relate-  to  an  exceedingly  iniporiant  and  rapidly  incrcasinp  use  of  cement. 
It  is  the  construction  of  concrete  roads.  The  lirst  pitliire  shows  a  concrete  road  in  course  of  con- 
struction. The  mechaincal  mixer  referred  to  ahovc  is  shown  in  this  jMCture.  It  is  a  selfproi)ellmK 
machine  and  mixes  the  concrete  very  rapidly.  AS  it  comes  from  the  mixer  in  a  wet  and  '""shy  mass 
it  is  j.laced'  between  rigidly  staked  side  forms,  where  it  hardens  into  impcrishahle  rock.  1  he  road  is 
brouKht  to  its  shape  hy  working  to  and  fro  a  long  plank  called  a  template,  after  which  the  surface  of 
the  road  is  troweled  with  wooden  floats,  giving  it  a  texture  which  prevents  horses  and  cars  from 
slipping.  The  last  picture  shows  a  narrow  concrete  road  in  the  state  of  Maryland.  Wherever  these 
roads  have  been  built  they  mean  much  to  the  women  anrl  children  of  the  community.  1  hev  never 
grind  up  into  mud  or  dust,  and  are  as  pleasant  to  walk  upon  as  the  sidewalks  of  the  city.  C  hildren, 
egpecially,  delight  in  them.  In  Wayne  county,  Mich.,  where  they  have  the  most  celebrate. 1  concrete 
roads  in  the  world,  the  childrei.  go  to  and  from  school  on  roller  skates,  and  various  games  are  played 
on   the  concrete   road. 


10-i 


WHAT   BECOMES  OF  THE   DUST 


meaning  that  iron  rods,  steel  bars  or 
woven  wire  mesh  are  imbedded  in  the 
concrete.  When  we  speak  of  a  "rein- 
forced" concrete  building,  imagine  a 
hnge  wire  bird  cage  encrusted  within 
and  without  with  concrete.  Place  a 
block,  beam  or  column  of  concrete  upon 
the  ground  and  it  will  bear  a  tremen- 
dous load,  meaning  that  it  has  great 
strength  in  compression.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  we  were  to  place  a  long  beam 
upon  supports  at  either  end.  leaving  the 
greater  length  of  it  suspended  and  with- 
out sup]wrt.  it  would  carry  but  a  small 
load  compared  with  concrete  in  com- 
]iression.  Therefore,  in  making  con- 
crete beams  or  girders  in  a  building, 
strong  steel  bars  are  embedded  in  the 
concrete  to  take  up  what  are  termed 
the  tensile  strains. 

Why  Don't  We  Make  Roads  Perfectly 

Level  ? 

Roads  are  made  with  a  curving  upper 
surface,  i.  e.,  higher  in  the  middle,  in 
order  that  the  rain  will  drain  aw^ay 
from  the  road  into  the  gutters  or 
ditches  which  you  find  at  the  sides. 
You  see  water  has  the  faculty  of  run- 
ning only  in  one  direction,  and  that  is 
downward.  If  it  cannot  go  down  on  one 
side  or  the  other,  it  wnll  collect  in  pud- 
dles and  make  the  road  impassable. 
For  this  reason  we  build  our  roads  so 
they  are  higher  in  the  middle  than  at 
the  sides — not  much  higher ;  only  about 
six  inches  or  so — giving  them  just  the 
gentle  slope  toward  each  side  that  is 
necessary  to  allow  the  water  to  run  off 
gradually,  but  sufficiently  sloping  to 
keep  the  water  from  collecting  in  pud- 
dles in  the  road.  Thus  after  the  dust 
lias  been  settled  by  the  first  rain  that 
falls,  most  of  the  surplus  rain  that  falls 
on  the  roads  finally  runs  into  the 
ditches  at  the  side  of  the  road. 

Why    Are    Some    Roads    Called    Turn- 
pikes ? 

Undoubtedly  the  name  turnpike  as 
applied  to  some  roads  arose  from  the 
f?ct  that  pikes  or  gates  were  set  across 
the  roads  by  the  keeper  or  toll-collector. 
In  addition  to  collecting  tolls,  it  was  a 
part  of  the  toll-keeper's  business  to  keep 


the  road  in  repair.  His  wages  and  other 
expenses  for  doing  this  were  received 
from  the  tolls  collected  from  the  people 
who  used  the  road  to  ride  on  in  car- 
1  iages,  wagons,  etc.  In  the  early  days 
the  toll-collector  was  armed  with  a  pike, 
a  long-handled  weapon  with  a  sharp 
iron  head,  which  he  used  to  prevent 
people  who  travelled  his  road  from 
going  by  without  giving  up  their  toll. 
Later  on  a  swinging  gate  was  built 
across  the  road,  which  made  it  un- 
necessary to  use  the  pike,  though  the 
name  was  retained,  for  no  one  could 
])ass  while  the  gate  barred  the  way. 
\\'hen  the  passerby  had  paid  his  tolls, 
the  toll-collector  opened  the  gate  and 
let  him  pass.  If  he  did  not  pay  the 
gate  remained  closed  and  the  driver 
liad  to  turn  back  or  decide  to  pay. 
Hence  comes  the  name  turnpike.  In 
some  parts  of  the  country  they  call 
these  toll  roads. 

What  Is  Dust? 

A  large  part  of  the  dust  we  see  in 
the  roadway  when  the  horses  kick  it 
up,  or  when  an  automobile  passes,  is 
made  up  of  the  pulverized  dirt  of  the 
roadway.  It  becomes  mixed  with 
other  things,  such  as  the  street  de- 
posits of  animals,  particles  of  carbon, 
etc.  Particles  of  this  dust  get  into 
our  throats,  and  as  there  are  many 
germs  in  it,  they  are  very  liable  to  cause 
sickness,  especially  the  colds  from 
which  we  suffer. 

What  Becomes  of  the  Dust? 

The  dust  of  the  roadway  is  generally 
blown  away  by  the  wind,  to  come  down 
to  earth  again  wherever  the  wind  hap- 
pens to  carry  it — on  the  lawns,  the  door- 
steps or  back  to  the  road,  perhaps.  In 
any  event,  the  rain  which  is  certain  to 
come  sooner  or  later,  washes  this  dust 
l)ack  into  the  soil,  or  into  the  sewers. 
Part  of  it  mixes  with  the  soil.  The 
organic  matter  in  dust  helps  to  fertilize 
the  soil,  and  is  therefore  useful.  Other 
parts  of  the  dust  are  oxidized  and  con- 
sumed by  the  air,  through  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  So  you  see  the  dust  is  contin- 
ually changing  from  one  thing  to  an- 
other. 


Aie  Stones  Alive? 

Real  stones  are  not  alive.  They  do 
not  become  stones  until  they  have  been 
burned  out-^until  tHey  have  become 
what  is  known  as  dead  matter.  This 
is  meant  entirely  in  the  sense  that 
we  commonly  think  of  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  "alive,"  which  is 
to  be  able  to  breathe  and  grow. 
Stones  can  neither  breathe  nor 
grow.  They  belongf  to  the  inani- 
mate kingdom  of  things  on  the  earth. 
Particles  of  this  dead  matter,  found  in 
stones,  etc.,  are  in  many  cases  taken 
up  by  things  that  are  actually  alive, 
and  help  to  form  the  bodies  of  living 
things. 

The  most  common  thing  to  be  found 
in  rocks  and  stones  is  what  is  called 
''silicon,"  and  we  find  this  silicon  in  the 
straws  of  the  wheat,  oats  and  corn,  and 
in  many  other  things,  but  not  in  a  way 
that  can  be  detected  except  by  chemical 
analysis.  A  great  many  of  the  things 
found  in  stones  are  found  in  living 
things,  but  rocks  and  stones  are  not 
alive  in  any  sense. 

What  and  Why  Is  Smoke? 

Smoke  is  produced  only  when  some- 
thing which  is  being  burned  is  burning 
imperfectly.  If  we  were  to  put  any- 
thing burnable  into  the  fire  and  estab- 
lish just  the  right  amount  of  draft, 
and  knew  how  to  build  our  fires  prop- 
erly, there  would  be  no  smoke  and 
very  little  ashes. 

In  the  case  of  the  black  coal  smoke 
which  we  think  of  mostly  when  we 
think  of  smoke  at  all,  the  black  portion 
is  principally  little  unburncd  particles 
of  coal  which  pass  up  the  chimney  with 
the  gases  which  are  thrown  off  when 
the  coal  is  being  burned.  These  gases 
would  be  invisible — they  really  are  in- 
visible— if  it  were  not  for  the  little 
])articlc'S  of  coal  which  are  drawn  up 
the  chimney  with  them.  If  you  look 
at  the  chimney  from  which  a  wood  fire 
expels  the  gases  you  find  the  smoke 
very  light  in  color — showing  that  not 
so  much  unl)urned  matter  is  being 
thrown  ofif.  A  charcoal  fire  makes  no 
smoke,   because   the   charcoal    has   had 


the  unburnable  things  taken  out  of  it 
beforehand,  and  the  charcoal  stove  is 
almost  perfect  in  construction  from  the 
standpoint  of  combustion. 

Of  course,  the  thickness  of  the  smoke 
from  a  coal  fire  is  often  increased  by 
the  fact  that  there  are  unburnable 
things  mixed  in  with  the  coal,  some 
of  which  also  pass  oft"  through  the 
chimney. 

Why  Can't  We  Burn  Stones? 

We  cannot  burn  anything  that  has 
already  been  burned,  and  a  stone  has 
already  been  burned.  To  understand 
how  this  is  we  must  first  find  out  what 
takes  place  when  a  thing  is  burned. 
When  a  thing  is  burning  it  means 
merely  that  that  particular  thing  is  tak- 
ing into  its  system  all  of  the  oxygen 
of  the  air  that  it  can  combine  with. 
When  it  has  done  this  it  cannot  be 
burned  any  more.  Of  course,  in  doing 
this  the  thing  originally  burned  changes 
its  character.  The  elements  in  a  candle 
when  lighted  mix  with  the  oxygen  in 
the  air  and  disappear  in  the  form  of 
of  gases.  The  elements  in  coal  mix 
v/hen  fired  with  oxygen  and  change 
irito  ashes,  gases  and  smoke.  A  stone, 
however,  is  the  result  of  a  burning 
that  has  already  taken  place.  The 
original  element  of  most  of  the  rocks 
and  stones  we  see  was  silicon,  and 
when  that  combines  with  oxygen,  the 
result  is  some  form  of  rock,  which  you 
may  be  able  to  break  up  or  throw,  but 
which  you  cannot  burn  again. 

What  Is  Fog? 

The  fog  which  we  generally  think 
of  when  we  speak  this  word  is  the  fog 
at  or  on  the  sea  or  other  body  of  water 
— the  one  that  makes  the  ships  stand 
by  and  blow  their  fog  horns.  A  fog 
of  this  kind  is  nothing  more  nor  less 
than  a  clond,  come  right  down  to  earth 
and  spread  out  a  little  more.  Teople 
who  have  gone  U]i  into  tlu-  ;iir  in  b.il 
loons  and  other  airships  through  the 
clouds,  say  that  the  clouds  are  oiil\' 
fogs,  and  that  above  them  it  is  as  clear 
as  it  is  on  a  sunshiny  day  on  the  water 
when  tlu-re  is  no   fog. 


106 


WHY    IRON   SINKS   AND   WOOD   DOES    NOT 


There  is  another  kind  of  fog  which 
settles  down  over  the  huid,  especially 
in  the  cities.  It  is  a  damp  mist  which 
combines  with  the  smoke  and  other 
impurities  in  the  air  and  forms  a  black 
and  dirty  cloud  about  everything.  This 
occurs  when  the  ujiper  air  ])revents  the 
smoke  which  rises  from  a  city  wath 
all  its  people  and  tires  in  the  furnaces 
from  passing  up  and  away.  The  up]:»er 
air  acts  like  a  blanket  and  keeps  the 
misty,  smoky  air  down,  until  the  wind 
comes  along  and  blows  it  away. 

What  Becomes  of  the  Smoke? 

There  are  a  number  of  things  in 
smoke,  and  when  we  know  what  they 
are,  we  will  find  a  natural  answer  to  this 
cjuestion.  First,  there  are,  of  course, 
the  little  unburned  particles  of  fuel 
which  get  carried  up  the  chimney  by 
its  drawing  power.  These  naturally 
fall  to  the  ground  of  their  own  weight, 
once  they  get  beyond  the  drawing 
power  of  the  chimney  and  out  of  the 
current  of  air  so  formed.  Some  of  the 
gases  are  already  quite  burned  out 
V.  hen  they  pass  up  the  chimney.  There 
is  a  lot  of  carbonic  acid  gas  which,  of 
course,  mixes  with  the  air  and  even- 
tually becomes  food  for  the  plants. 
Then  there  are  some  gases  which  are 
not  entirely  burned,  and  the  air  burns 
them  still  more  until  they,  too,  become 
carbonic  acid  gas,  or  water  which  is  also 
thrown  oft  by  a  burning  fire. 

Why  Does  an  Apple  Turn  Brown  When 

Cut? 

The  reason  is  that  when  you  cut  an 
apple,  the  exposure  to  the  air  of  the 
inside  of  the  apple  causes  a  chemical 
change  to  take  place,  due  to  the  eftect 
the  oxygen  in  the  air  has  on  what  is 
scientifically  known  as  the  enzymes  in 
the  apple,  or  what  are  commonly  called 
the  "ferments."  When  the  peel  is  un- 
broken it  protects  the  inside  of  the 
apple  against  this  action  by  the  oxygen. 
The  brown  color  happens  to  be  due  to 
the  chemical  action.  The  action  is  sim- 
ilar to  the  action  of  the  air  on  wet  or 
damp  iron  or  steel,  in  which  case  we 
call   it   rust. 


Why  Does  a  Piece  of  Wood  Float   in 
Water? 

A  piece  of  wootl  will  float  in  water 
because  it  is  lighter  than  the  same 
amount  of  water.  We  do  not  mean 
that  a  ])iece  of  wood  weighing  one 
pound,  for  instance,  would  weigh  any 
more  than  a  ])ound  of  water,  of  course, 
but  if  you  took  the  measurements  of 
each  you  will  iind  that  it  took  less  bulk 
to  make  a  ])ound  of  water  than  of 
wood.  If  you  had  a  piece  of  wood  so 
shaped  that  it  just  filled  a  glass  com- 
l)letely,  and  then  took  another  glass 
and  filled  it  with  water,  you  would  iind 
tiiat  the  glass  containing  the  water 
weighed  the  most.  Another  name  to 
give  to  this  difference  would  be  to  say 
that  the  water  was  more  dense  than  the 
wood.  By  the  law  of  gravitation  the 
denser  thing  will  always  go  to  the  bot- 
tom, and  as  wood  is  less  dense  than 
water,  it  will  stay  at  the  top  if  put  in 
water.  The  piece  of  w'ood  has  more  air 
in  it  than  the  w^ater.  If  you  could 
expel  the  air  from  the  piece  of  wood 
and  then  put  it  in  water,  it  would  sink. 

Why  Does  Iron  Sink  In  Water? 

The  explanation  in  regard  to  the 
piece  of  wood  floating  in  water  is  the 
beginning  of  the  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. A  piece  of  iron  is  heavier  than 
an  equal  bulk  of  w^ater,  and  will  there- 
fore go  to  the  bottom,  as  will  all  things 
which  are  more  dense  than  water.  A 
])iece  of  iron  has  no  air  in  it.  The  par- 
ticles of  a  piece  of  iron  are  so  close 
together  that  there  is  no  room  for  air 
in  it  and  it  will  therefore  sink  in 
water.  A  piece  of  wood  from  which 
all  of  the  air  had  been  expelled  would 
also  sink. 

Why  Doesn't  an  Iron  Ship  Sink? 

This  is  a  very  natural  question  for 
you  to  ask  right  after  you  were  told 
why  iron  sinks  in  water.  The  explana- 
tion is  that  by  making  an  iron  ship  in 
the  way  we  do,  we  fix  it  so  that  it 
holds  a  lot  of  air  in  between  the  bottom 
and  sides,  making  the  combination  of 
the  two — the  iron  ship  and  the  air  in 
it — lighter  than  the  water  on  w^hich  it 


WHY  IRON  TURNS  RED  WHEN  HEATED 


107 


sails.  Alen  thought  at  one  time  that 
a  ship  would  sink  if  made  of  iron, 
and  therefore  huilt  all  of  their  ships 
of  wood.  Finally  one  inventor  made  a 
ship  of  iron  and  it  was  one  of  the  won- 
ders of  the  world.  When  we  found 
that  iron  ships  would  float  if  they  were 
built  to  retain  sufficient  air  to  keep 
them  from  sinking,  we  made  the  hulls 
of  most  ships  of  iron  for  a  time.  Now, 
however,  the  best  ships  are  made  of 
steel,  which  is  even  better. 

If  you  bore  a  hole  in  the  bottom  of 
a  ship,  the  water  will  run  in  if  the 
ship  is  in  the  water,  and  the  ship  will 
sink,  because  the  water  coming  in 
drives  out  the  air ;  and  when  the  ship 
is  full  of  water,  the  water  in  it,  with 
the  ship  itself,  are  heavier  than  the 
water  on  which  it  sails,  and  the  ship 
will  go  down.  Filling  a  ship  with  water 
makes  the  iron  part  of  the  ship  just 
like  a  bar  of  iron,  so  far  as  its  sinking 
qualities  are  concerned. 

pf  course,  an  iron  ship  must  be 
made  long  enough  and  broad  enough 
so  that  when  it  is  completed  there  will 
be  sufficient  air  contained  within  the 
hull  to  make  the  combination  lighter 
than  water.  Always,  therefore,  when  a 
ship  is  to  be  built,  competent  engineers 
must  go  over  the  plans  of  the  vessel 
and  calculate  the  air  capacity,  so  as  to 
make  sure  she  will  float. 

Nowadays  it  woukl  be  difficult  to 
sink  a  modern  vessel  by  boring  one 
small  hole  in  the  bottom,  because  the 
bottom  and  sides  are  lined  with  en- 
closed steel  air-chambers,  and  a  ship 
will  keep  afloat  even  if  one  or  a  number 
of  holes  are  made.  The  reason  is,  of 
course,  that  when  you  bore  a  hole  into 
one  of  these  air-chambers  the  water 
rushing  in  will  fill  that  air-chamber 
v.ith  water,  but  as  there  is  no  connec- 
tion from  the  inside  with  the  rest  of 
the  ship,  the  water  can  get  no  further. 

Why  Does   a  Poker   Get   Hot   at  Both 
Ends  if  Left  in  the  Fire? 

Both  ends  of  the  jjoker  become 
heated  because  the  poker  is  made  of 
iron,  anrl  iron  is  a  particularly  good 
conductor  of  heat.  To  understand  this 
we  must  look  into  the  (jucstion  of  what 


a  good  conductor  of  heat  is.  In  this 
case  the  particles  of  iron,  which  com- 
bined form  the  poker,  are  so  close  to- 
gether that  when  those  at  the  end  of 
the  poker  which  is  in  the  fire  get  hot, 
the  particles  at  that  end  hand  the  heat 
on  to  the  particles  next  to  them,  and 
so  on  until  the  whole  poker  is  hot.  The 
difiference  between  a  thing  which  is 
a  good  conductor  of  heat  and  a  thing 
which  is  not  a  good  conductor,  lies  in 
the  ability  of  the  different  particles 
which  compose  it  to  hand  the  heat  on 
to  the  others.  Did  you  ever  notice 
that  the  handle  of  a  solid  silver  spoon 
will  become  hot  if  the  spoon  is  left 
in  hot  coft'ee?  Sohd  silver  is  a  good 
conductor  of  heat.  A  plated  spoon  is 
not  a  good  conductor,  however,  and 
v/ill  not  become  hot  if  left  in  the  cup 
of  hot  coffee  as  a  solid  silver  spoon 
will. 

Would  a  Wooden  Spoon  Get  Hot? 

A  wooden  spoon  would  not  get  hot, 
because  wood  is  not  a  good  conductor 
of  heat.  The  atoms  which  compose 
the  wood  have  not  the  power  to  trans- 
mit the  heat  to  each  other.  This  is 
strange,  too,  when  we  think  that  a 
poker  is  a  good  conductor  of  heat,  but 
will  not  burn,  while  wood  is  not  a  good 
conductor,  but  will  burn  readily.  Per- 
haps you  have  already  discovered  this 
in  connection  with  a  wood  fire.  One 
end  of  a  stick  of  wood  may  be  burning 
fiercely,  and  yet  you  can  pick  it  up  by 
the  other  end  and  find  it  is  not  even 
v/arm.  This  proves  to  you  that  wood 
is  not  a  good  conductor  of  heat,  and 
explains  why  the  handle  of  a  wooden 
spoon  in  a  bowl  of  hot  soup  will  not 
get  hot  while  the  handle  of  a  silver 
spoon  will. 

Why  Does  Iron  Turn  Red  When  Red 
Hot? 

The  answer  is  (hat  the  piece  of  iron 
has  been  liciti'd  lo  tlic  point  where  it 
gives  off  light  of  its  own.  The  rod  vou 
see  is  only  one  stage  in  (he  (Kxrlop- 
ment  of  iron  lo  the  ])oint  where  it 
makes  its  own  light.  If  you  heat  it 
still   more   it    will   make   a   white   light. 


108 


HOW  THE  SAND   GOT  ON   THE  SEASHORE 


You  know  that  it  produces  the  hght 
itself,  because  if  you  take  a  piece  of 
iron  into  a  perfectly  dark  room  and 
heat  it  to  a  white  heat  it  will  show  bet- 
ter than  where  tliere  is  other  light.  If 
you  continue  the  ]:)rocess  the  iron  will 
melt  and  change  in  form.  Therefore, 
the  "red  hot"  name  for  a  piece  of  iron 
in  that  state  is  a  perfect  name.  It  is  a 
\sarning  that  the  iron  is  coming  to  a 
point  where  if  the  heating  process  is 
continued,  it  will  change  its  form  and 
in  this  state,  when  treated  according 
to  known  methods,  the  iron  is  turned 
into  steel,  which  has  many  character- 
istics that  iron  does  not  possess.  Now, 
I  can,  of  course,  hear  you  ask  why 
doesn't  an  iron  kettle  get  red  hot?  and 
I  can  answer  that  easily.  If  you  treat 
thic  kettle  the  same  way  as  you  do  the 
jiiece  of  iron,  it  will  get  red  hot.  The 
(litTerence  is  that  you  are  thinking  of 
an  iron  kettle  with  water  in  it.  As  long 
as  there  is  any  w-ater  in  the  kettle,  that 
keeps  it  from  getting  hot.  The  water 
inside  keeps  the  kettle  from  becoming 
red  hot.  If  you  took  a  hollow  rod  of 
iron  and  filled  it  with  water,  it  would 
not  become  red  hot  as  long  as  any  water 
remained  in  the  hollow  jiortion. 

How  Did  the  Sand  Get  on  the  Seashore? 
The  sand  on  the  seashore  is  nothing 
more  or  less  than  ground-up  sandstone. 
In  dealing  with  the  inanimate  things  in 
the  world  we  find  that  a  very  important 
element  of  all  of  them  has  been  given 
the  name  silicon.  When  the  crust  of 
the  earth,  which  is  the  part  we  call 
the  land  and  rocks,  and  includes  the 
part  under  the  sea,  was  a  molten  mass, 
this  silicon  was  burned,  combining  with 
the  oxygen  which  surrounded  every- 
thing, and  produced  w^hat  is  known  as 
silica.  Silica  is  the  name  given  to  the 
thing  which  is  left  after  you  burn 
silicon.  A  very  large  part  of  this 
silica  was  deposited  in  parts  of  the 
earth,  and  when  the  crust  of  the  earth 
cooled  ofif  it  was  sand.  By  pressure 
and  contact  with  other  substances  it  be- 
came stuck  together,  just  as  you  can 
take  wet  sand  at  the  seashore  to-day 
and  make  bricks  and  houses  and  tun- 
nels, excepting  that  in  the  case  we 
speak    of    it    was    something    besides 


water  that  pressed  and  stuck  the  little 
]>:irticles  of  sand  together.  They  stuck 
together  more  permanently.  Tlien 
when  the  oceans  were  formed,  as 
shown  in  another  part  of  this  book, 
nnich  of  the  sandstone  was  fouiul  to 
be  at  the  bottom  and  on  the  shores  of 
the  oceans.  The  action  of  the  water 
continually  washing  against  the  sand- 
stone gradually  broke  the  sandstone  up 
into  the  tiny  particles  of  sand  again, 
and  this  is  what  makes  the  sand  on  the 
seashore. 

What  Makes  a  Soap  Bubble  ? 

A  l)ubl)le  is  merely  a  hollow  ball  of 
water  with  air  inside.  The  air  in  com- 
ing up  through  the  water  in  trying  to 
rise  out  of  the  water  is  caught  in  the 
water  in  such  a  way  as  to  form  the 
bubble,  and  since  the  ability  of  the 
air  inside  of  the  bubble  to  rise  is 
greater  than  that  of  the  water  which 
forms  the  bubble,  and  which  has  a  ten- 
dency to  pull  it  down,  the  bubble  rises 
into  the  air.  The  water  ball  is  very 
thin  and  keeps  running  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  ball,  where  you  see  it 
form  into  drops,  and  soon  this  makes 
the  walls  of  the  water  bubble  so  thin 
that  the  air  bursts  through  the  ball  of 
water,  and  that  is 

What  Makes  the  Bubble  Explode  ? 

Sometimes  we  blow  soap  bubbles.  W' c 
mix  soap  in  the  water  and  that  makes 
the  walls  of  the  w^ater  ball  wdiich  we 
produce  a  little  tougher,  and  it  requires 
a  great  deal  more  effort  for  the  air  to 
escape  from  it,  as  the  soap  keeps  the 
water  in  the  walls  of  the  bubble  from 
running  down  to  the  bottom  for  quite 
some  time,  and,  therefore,  soap  l)ub- 
blcs  will  often  travel  in  the  air  for 
some  distance.  The  colors  we  see  on 
soap  bubbles  are  produced  by  the  rays 
of  sunlight,  which  strike  the  bubble 
and  reflect  them  back  to  us  in  colors 
very  similar  to  those  of  the  rainbow. 

Why  Are  Bubbles  Round? 

Bubbles  are  round  because  the  air 
whit^i  forms  the  inside  of  the  bubble 
exerts  an  equal  pressure  in  all  direc- 
tions. It  presses  equally  against  all 
sides  of  the  bubble  at  the  same  time. 


WHERE   DOES  SILK  COME   FROM? 


109 


The   Story   in  a  Yard  of   Silk 


God's  Creation  and  Man's  Invention. 

Silk  in  its  finished  state  is  an  ideal 
product.  It  is  at  once  durable,  magnifi- 
cent to  the  eye,  tender  to  the  touch,  and 
its  rustle  is  soft  music  to  the  ear. 
Hence  it  is  easy  to  understand  why  the 
silkworm,  from  the  earliest  times,  has 
been  an  object  of  much  consideration 
and  concern  from  a  commercial  and 
industrial  point  of  view.  In  this  coun- 
try alone,  we  annually  expend  as  much 
for  silk  goods  as  we  do  for  public  edu- 
cation and  thirty  times  as  much  as  we 
do  for  foreign  missions.  Such  an  in- 
domitable producer  of  wealth  is  the 
silkworm,  and  a  producer  of  wealth  it 
has  been  from  an  age  as  remote  as 
when  Joseph  was  down  in  old  Egypt, 
interpreting  the  dreams  of  King  Pha- 
raoh's butler  and  baker  and  later  that 
of  the  King  himself. 

To-day  we  speak  of  twenty  centuries, 
and  our  minds  can  hardly  comprehend 
such  a  lapse  of  time.  \\'hat  shall  we 
think  of  the  silkworm,  that  for  twice 
twenty  centuries  has  furnished  prac- 
tically all  the  raw  material  for  the 
world's  silk  supply?  Because  man's 
ingenuity  is  at  present  actively  engaged 
in  the  attemjjt  to  displace  it  by  cheaper 
substitutes,  the  thought  has  come  to 
us  that,  without  going  too  minutely  into 
mechanical  processes,  a  good  opportu- 
nity is  presented  to  give  some  interest- 
ing information  in  regard  to  the  silk- 
worm as  the  creation  of  the  Divine 
Ifanrj,  in  contrast  to  the  silkworm  as  the 
creation  of  man. 

According  to  Chinese  authority,  the 
use  of  silk  dates  from  2650  B.C.,  and 


it  is 'generally  conceded  that,  in  point 
of  age,  it  stands  midway  among  the 
great  textiles,  wool  and  cotton  having 
preceded  it,  while  tlax,  hemp  and  other 
fibrous  plants  followed  shortly  in  its 
train. 

The  first  patron  of  the  silkworm  w-as 
Hoang-Ti,  Third  Emperor  of  China, 
and  his  Empress,  Si-Ling-Chi,  was  the 
first  practical  silkworm  breeder  and  silk 
reeler.  It  is  related  of  her  that  she  was 
once  walking  in  the  palace  gardens 
when  she  discovered  a  strange  and  re- 
pulsive looking  worm.  It  was  small, 
of  a  pale  green  color,  and  was  feeding 
greedily  on  a  mulberry  leaf.  She  in- 
terested the  Emperor  in  this  strange 
creature,  and,  at  the  Emperor's  sug- 
gestion, took  the  fine  silken  web  which 
the  worm  finally  spun,  and  was  the 
first  to  successfully  reel  the  new  fila- 
ment and  weave  it  into  cloth.  So  bene- 
ficial to  the  nation  was  her  work  con- 
sidered that  her  gratified  subjects  be- 
stowed upon  her  the  divine  title  of 
"Goddess  of  the  Silkworms,"  and  to 
this  day  the  Chinese  celebrate  in  her 
honor  the  "Con-Con  Feast,"  which 
takes  place  during  the  season  in  which 
the  silkworm  eggs  are  hatched. 

In  accounting  for  the  presence  of 
silkworms  in  the  garden  of  this  early 
empress,  we  can  rightly  conclude  that 
certain  parts  of  China  have  always 
abounded  in  forests  of  mulberry  trees, 
and  that  the  worms  themselves  had  ex- 
isted in  great  nimibers  in  a  wild  state 
and  attached  their  cocoons  to  the  trees 
for  ages  before  any  use  was  discovered 
for  their  web.  In  fact,  such  wild  silk- 
worms  not   onlv    abound    in    ( "Iiin;i    to- 


110 


HOW    SILK  WAS  INTRODUCED    INTO   EUROPE 


Illustration  by  courtesy  The  Bruluerd  &  Arnialrong  rillk  Co. 
THE   INTRODUCTION    OF   SaK   INTO   EUROPE 


Pilgrims  brought 
silkwurm  eggs  in 
their  staffs,  to- 
getlier  with  the 
branches  of  mul- 
berry trees,  from 
Cliina  to  the  Court 
of  Justinian  at  Bj^- 
zantine,  A.D.  555- 
The  pcnaUy  for 
taking  silkworm 
eggs  iiut  of  China 
was   death. 

The  accompany- 
ing illustration  is 
a  reproduction  of 
a  mural  painting 
on  rep  in  the 
Royal  Textile  Mu- 
seum at  Crefeld, 
Germany,  one  of 
the  great  silk  tex- 
tile centers  of  the 
world.  The  artist 
shows  the  pilgrims 
presenting  the  silk- 
worm eggs  and  the 
mulberry  branches 
to  Justinian,  be- 
side whom,  just  in 
the  act  of  rising,  is 
his  famous  queen 
Theodora. 


day,  but  have  also  been  found  in 
Southern  and  Eastern  Asia,  inhabitini^ 
the  jungles  of  India,  Pegu,  Siam  and 
Cochin  China,  but  the  cocoons  of  these 
worms  are,  naturally,  of  a  very  inferior 
quality,  and  are  only  used  for  the  crud- 
est kind  of  work. 

Silk  culture  from  the  time  of 
Hoang-Ti  became  one  of  the  cher- 
ished secrets  of  China.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  industry  was  in  the 
Province  of  Chen  Tong,  where  was  pro- 
duced the  silk  for  the  royal  family.  In 
time  the  silk  and  stuffs  of  China  became 
articles  of  export  to  various  portions 
of  Asia.  Long  journeys  were  made  by 
caravans,  occupying  two-thirds  of  a 
year  in  going  from  the  cities  of  China 
to  those  of  Syria,  but  the  price  obtained 
there  exceeded  the  expense  of  the 
journey,  and  thus  left  a  large  margin 
of  profit  to  the  merchants.  In  this 
manner,  for  one  thousand  years,  the 
Chinese  sent  their  silk  to  the  Persians 
who,  without  knowing  how  or  from 
what  it  was  made,  carried  it  to  the 
Western  nations. 

So  carefully  did  the  Orientals  guard 


their  secret,  that  there  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  Aristotle  was  the  first  person 
in  the  occidental  world  to  Jearn  the  true 
origin  of  the  wrought  silk  from  Persia. 
In  commenting  on  the  silk  which  was 
brought  from  that  country  on  the  re- 
turn of  Alexander's  victorious  army,  he 
described  the  silkworm  as  a  "horned  in- 
sect," passing  through  several  trans- 
formations, which  produced  "bomby- 
kia,"  as  he  called  the  silk.  But  the 
classics  must  convince  one  that  Aris- 
totle's discovery  did  not  at  once  become 
matter  of  current  knowledge.  In  fact, 
for  five  hundred  years  after  Aristotle's 
time  the  common  theory  of  the  origin 
of  silk  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
was  that  it  was  either  "a  fleece  which 
grew  upon  a  tree"  (thus  confounding 
it  with  cotton),  or  a  fibre  obtained  from 
the  inner  bark  of  a  tree ;  and  some,  de- 
ceived by  the  glossy  and  silky  fibres  of 
the  seed  vessels  of  the  plant  that  cor- 
responds to  our  milk  or  silk  weed,  be- 
lieved it  to  be  the  product  of  some 
plant  or  flower.  So  virgil,  in  speaking 
of  silk,  says,  "the  Seres  comb  the  del- 
icate fleecings  from  the  leaves." 


WHEN   SILK  CULTURE  WAS    INTRODUCED    IN   AMERICA      111 


In  the  Sixth  Century,  A.D.,  all  the 
raw  silk  was  still  being  imported  from 
China  by  way  of  Persia,  when  the  Ejn- 
peror  Justinian,  having  engaged  in  war 
with  Persia,  found  his  supply  of  raw 
silk  cut  off  and  the  manufacturers  in 
great  distress.  His. foolish  legislation 
did  not  help  the  situation,  and  a  crisis 
was  averted  only  by  two  Xestorian 
monks,  who  came  from  China  with  seed 
of  the  mulberry  tree  and  a  knowledge 
of  the  Chinese  method  of  rearing 
worms.  No  one,  on  pain  of  death,  was 
allowed  to  export  the  silkworm  eggs 
from  China,  but  Justinian  bribed  the 
monks  to  return  to  that  country,  and  in 
555  they  came  back,  bringing  with  them 
a  quantity  of  silkworm  eggs  concealed 
in  their  pilgrim's  staffs.  And  here  let 
us  say  that  there  has  only  once  since 
been  an  important  importation  of  eggs 
from  Asia.  That  was  about  1860, 
when  Dr.  Pasteur  was  making  a  study 
of  a  germ  disease  which  was  threaten- 
ing the  industry.  Consequently,  it  can 
truly  be  said  that  practically  all  the 
silkworms  of  the  Western  world  are 
descended  from  those  brought  in  the 
eggs  by  the  monks  to  Constantinople. 
Justinian  gave  the  control  of  the  silk 
industry  to  his  own  treasurer.  W^eavers, 
brought  from  Tyre  and  Berytus,  were 
employed  to  manufacture  the  silk,  and 
the  whole  production  was  a  monopoly 
of  the  emperor,  he  fixing  its  prices. 
Under  his  management,  the  cost  of  silk 
became  eight  times  as  great  as  before, 
and  the  Royal  Purple  was  twenty-four 
times  it  former  price.  But  this  mo- 
nopoly was  not  of  long  duration  and, 
at  the  death  of  Justinian  in  565,  the 
monopoly  ceased,  and  the  spread  of  the 
industry  commenced  in  new  and  di- 
verse directions. 

While  every  detail  of  the  growth  of 
the  indu.stry  has  an  unusual  interest,  as 
showing  how  such  an  insignificant  thing 
as  a  worm  may  become  a  potent  factor 
in  Nature's  economy,  the  scope  of  this 
article  will  hardly  allow  us  to  more 
than  sketch  some  of  the  other  more 
salient  points  of  the  history  of  the  silk- 
wr)rni 


About  the  year  910,  the  silkworms 
made  their  appearance  in  Cordova, 
Spain,  being  brought  there  by  the 
floors.  From  Spain  silk  culture  soon 
extended  to  Greece  and  Italy. 

Silk  was  introduced  on  this  conti- 
nent through  the  Spanish  Conquest  of 
Mexico,  and  the  first  silkworm  eggs 
sold  for  $60.00  an  ounce. 

A  century  later  royal  orders  were 
issued  requiring  mulberry  trees  to  be 
planted  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  and 
a  fine  of  twenty  pounds  of  tobacco  was 
imposed  for  neglect,  and  fifty  pounds 
of  tobacco  was  given  as  a  bounty  for 
every  pound  of  reeled  silk  produced. 

Silk  culture  spread  rapidly  in  the 
other  Colonies,  and  to-day  the  story  of 
the  inft"ectual  attempts  to  profitably 
rear  the  silkworm  in  this  country  is  as 
voluminous  as  it  is  interesting.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say,  as  a  sop  to  our  inherent 
Yankee  pride,  that  silk  culture  was  in- 
troduced into  Connecticut  as  early  as 
1737,  the  first  coat  and  stockings  made 
from  New  England  silk  being  worn  by 
Governor  Law  in  1747,  and  the  first 
silk  dress  by  his  daughter,  in  1750. 
This  State,  for  the  eighty-four  years 
following,  led  all  the  others  'in  thle 
amount  of  raw  silk  produced.  In  Con- 
necticut also,  was  built  the  first  silk  mill 
to  be  erected  on  this  continent  for  the 
special  purpose  of  manufacturing  silk 
goods.  This  building  was  constructed 
in  1810  by  Rodney  and  Horatio  Hanks, 
at  Mansfield,  and  is  still  standing  as  an 
heirloom  which  has  come  to  us  from 
the  infant  days  of  the  industry. 

The  silkworm  has  become  domesti- 
cated, since,  during  the  tong  centuries 
in  which  it  has  been  cultivated,  it  has 
acf|uired  many  useful  peculiarities. 
Man  has  striven  to  increase  its  silk 
l)roducing  power,  and  in  this  he  has 
succeeded,  for.  by  comparing  the  co- 
coon of  the  silkworm  of  to-day  with  its 
wild  relations,  the  cocoon  is  found  to 
be  much  larger,  even  in  proportion  to 
the  size  of  the  worm  that  makes  it  or 
the  moth  that  issues  from  it.  Tlie 
moth's  loss  of  the  power  of  flight  and 
the  white  color  of  the  species  are  prob- 
riblv   the   rc'^ult'^   of  domestication. 


112 


JAPAN  THE   NATURAL   HOME   OF  THE   SILK  WORM 


This  picture  shows  a 
grove  of  mulberry 
•trees  from  which 
brauches  are  being 
gathered  as  food  for 
tlie  worms.  This  is 
often  done  by  the  chil- 
dren. 


G.\  1  HKKl.N 


Mn.HlKKV     liUAXCHKS. 


The  moths  arc  placed 
upon  pieces  of  card- 
board, upon  which  they 
deposit  their  eggs. 

The  cards  with  the 
eggs  are  kept  in  a  cool 
place  until  the  season 
for  hatching  arrives. 


OEPOSITIXG    EGG? 


This  picture  shows 
two  boys  preparing  a 
bed  of  twigs  or 
branches  upon  which 
the  worms  may  spin 
their  cocoons. 


PREPARING    COCOn.NING  BEDS.* 


♦Illustrations   by  courtesy    The 
Brainerd  &  Armstrong  Co. 


HOW  THE  SILKWORMS  ARE   CARED  FOR 


113 


HATCHING    THE 
EGGS. 

As  the  eggs 
hatch  on  the 
cards,  the  young 
worms  are  re- 
moved to  other 
cards  or  trays, 
where  they  are 
fed  and  cared 
for. 


pages 
ititlcd. 


and  p 
"Silk, 


The  cocoons  are  soaked 
in  hot  water  in  the  hasins 
shown  in  the  front  to 
loosen  the  gum.  The  silk 
tlireads  then  pass  tiirougli 
tin-  hands  of  the  operators 
and  are  reeled  on  swifts 
in  the  cabinet  shown  in 
the  rear. 

A  more  modern  appli- 
ance for  reeling  the  silk 
is  shown  on  one  of  the 
following  pages. 


ictnres  hy  courtesy  of  P.rainerd  X:  Armstrong  Silk  Company, 
the  Real  versus  the   imit.ilioii." 


114 


THE  SILKWORM— HOW  HE  DOES  HIS  WORK 


FULL    GROWN    LARVA — SHOWING    POSITION     IN     MOLTING.* 


MALE    MOTH.* 


FEMALE  MOTH.* 


BOTTOM   VIEW  OF 
CHRYSALIS.* 


The  silk  moth  exists  in  four  states — 
egg,  larva,  chrysalis,  and  adult.  The 
egg  of  the  moth  is  nearly  round,  slight- 
ly flattened,  and  closely  resembles  a 
turnip  s-eed.  W'hen  first  laid  it  is  yel- 
low, soon  turning  a  gray  or  slate  color 
if  impregnated.  It  has  a  small  spot  on 
one  end  called  the  micropyle,  and  Avhen 
the  worm  hatches,  which  in  our  climate 
is  about  the  first  of  June,  it  gnaws  a 
hole  through  this  spot.  Black  in  color, 
scarcely  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  length, 
covered  with  long  hair,  with  a  shiny 
nose,  and  sixteen  small  legs,  the  baby 
worm  is  born,  'leaving  the  shell  of  the 
egg  white  and  transparent. 

Small  and  tender  leaves  of  the  white 
mulberry  or  osage  orange  are  fed  the 
young  worms  which  simply  pierces 
them  and  sucks  the  sap.  Soon  the 
worm  becomes  large  enough  to  eat  the 
tender  portions  between  the  veins  of 
the  leaf.  In  eating  they  hold  the  leaves 
by  the  six  forward  feet,  and  then  cut 


ofif  semi-circular  slices  from  the  leaf's 
edge  by  the  sharp  upper  portion  of  the 
mouth.  The  jaws  move  sidcwise,  and 
several  thousand  worms  eating  make  a 
noise  like  falling  rain. 

The  worms  are  kept  on  trays  made 
of  matting,  that  are  placed  on  racks 
for  convenience  in  handling.  The 
leaves  are  placed  beside  the  worms,  or 
upon  a  slatted  or  perforated  tray  placed 
above  them,  and  those  that  crawl  oif 
are  retained,  while  the  weak  ones  are 
removed  with  the  old  leaves.  The 
worms  breathe  through  spiracles,  small 
holes  which  look  like  black  spots,  one 
row  of  nine  down  each  side  of  the  body. 
They  have  no  eyes,  but  are  quite  sen- 
sitive to  a  jar,  and  if  you  hit  the  rack 
they  stop  eating  and  throw  their  heads 
to  one  side.  They  are  velvety,  sm.ooth, 
and  cold  to  the  touch,  and  the  flesh  is 
firm,  almost  hard.  The  pulsation  of  the 
blood  may  be  traced  on  the  back  of  the 
worm,  running  towards  the  head. 


*The  cuts  on   this   page  and   balance   of   cuts   in  the   story  of   silk   copyright  by  the 
Corticelli  Silk  Mills. 


SIXTY=FIVE   MOTIONS  OF  HIS   HEAD   A   MINUTE 


115 


The  worm  has  four  molting  seasons, 
at  each  of  which  it  sheds  its  old  skin 
for  a  new  one,  since  in  the  very  rapid 


HOW   THE   SILKWORMS    ARE   REARED.* 

growth  of  the  worm  the  old  skin  can- 
not keep  pace  with  the  growth  of  the 
body.  The  periods  between  these  dif- 
ferent molts  are  called  "ages,"  there 
being  five,  the  first  extending  from  the 
time  of  hatching  to  the  end  of  the  first 
molt,  and  the  last  from  the  end  of  the 
fourth  molt  to  the  transformation  of 
the  insect  into  a  chrysalis.  The  time 
between  the  four  "molts"  will  be  found 
to  vary,  depending  upon  the  species  of 
worm. 

When  the  worm  molts  it  ceases  eat- 
i"?>  g;rows  slig'htly  lighter  in  color, 
fastens  itself  firmly  by  the  ten  prolegs, 
and  especially  by  the  last  two,  to  some 
object,  and  holding  up  its  head  and  the 
fore  part  of  its  body  remains  in  a  torpid 
state  for  nearly  two  days. 

By  each  successive  molt  the  worm 
grows  lighter,  finally  becoming  a  slate 
or  cream'  white  color,  and  the  hair, 
which  was  long  at  first,  gradually  dis- 
appears. The  gummy  liquid  which 
combines  the  two  strands  hardens  im- 
mediately on  ex|)ost]re  to  the  air. 

The  worm  works  incessantly,  forcing 


the  silk  out  by  the  contraction  of  its 
body.  The  thin,  gauze-like  network 
which  soon,  surrounds  it  gradually 
thickens,  until,  twenty-four  hours  after 
beginning  to  spin,  the  worm  is  nearly 
hidden  from  view.  However,  the  co- 
coon is  not  completed  for  about  three 
days. 

The  cocoon  is  tough,  strong,  and 
compact,  composed  of  a  firm,  continu- 
ous thread,  which  is,  however,  not 
wound  in  concentric  circles,  but  irregu- 
larly in  short  figure  eight  loops,  first  in 
one  place  and  then  in  another.  In  do- 
ing this  the  worm  makes  sixty-five  el- 
lepitcal  motions  of  his  head  a  minute 
or  a  total  of  300,000  in  an  average  co- 
coon. The  motion  of  the  worm's  head 
when  starting  the  cocoon  is  very  rapid, 
and  nine  to  twelve  inches  of  silk  flow 


SILKWUK.M    LATINO.* 


from  the  spinneret  in  a  minute,  but 
later  the  averaige  would  be  about  half 
this  amount  per  minute. 


116     SILKWORM- ONE  OF  THE  WORLD'S  GREATEST  WORKERS 


SILKWORM   PREPARING  TO  FORM    ITS  CUCOON. 

Having  attained  full  growth,  the 
worm  is  ready  to  spin  its  cocoon.  It 
loses  its  appetite,  shrinks  nearly  an  inch 


in  length,  grows  nearly  transparent, 
often  acquiring  a  pinkish  hue,  becomes 
restless,  seeks  a  quiet  place  or  corner, 
and  moves  its  head  from  side  to  side 
in  an  eflfort  to  find  objects  on  which  to 
attach  its  guy  lines  within  whicli  to 
build  its  cocoon.  The  silk  is  elaborated 
in  a  senii-lluid  condition  in  two  long, 
convoluted  vessels  or  glands  between 
the  prolegs  and  head,  one  upon  each 
side  of  the  alimentary  canal.  As'  these 
vessels  approach  the  head  they  grow 
more  slender,  and  finally  unite  within 
the  s])inneret,  a  small  double  orilicc 
below  the  mouth,  from  which  the  silk 


COMPLETED    COCOON. 


COCOON   BEGUN — SILKWORM    CAN    STILL   BE   SEEN. 

issues  in  a  glutinous  state  and  appar- 
ently in  a  single  thread. 

The  color  of  the  worm's  prolegs  be- 
fore spinning  indicates  the  color  the  co- 
coon will  be.  This  varies  in  different 
species,  and  may  be  a  silvery  white, 
cream,   yellow,   lemon,   or  green. 

When  the  worm  has  finished  spin- 
ning, it  is  one  and  a  quarter  inches 
long.  Two  days  later,  by  a  final  molt, 
its  dried-up  skin  breaks  at  the  nose  and 
is  crowded  back  ofif  the  body,  revealing 
the  chrysalis,  an  oval  cone  one  inch  in 
length.  It  is  a  light  yellow  in  color,  and 
immediately  after  molting  is  soft  to  the 
touch.  The  ten  prolegs  of  the  worm 
have  disappeared,  the  four  wings  of 
the  future  moth  are  folded  over  the 
breast,  together  with  the  six  legs  and 
tw^o  feelers,  or  antennae.    It  soon  turns 


WHEN  THE  SILKWORM'S  WORK  IS   DONE 


117 


:..^^..ii.    EMERGING    FROM    COCOONS. 

brown,  and  the  skin  hardens  into  a 
tough  shell.  Nature  provides  the  co- 
coon to  protect  the  worm  from  the 
elements  while  it  is  being  transformed 
into  a  chrysalis,  and  thence  into  the 
moth. 

With  no  jaws,  and  confined  within 
the  narrow  space  of  the  cocoon,  the 
moth  has  some  difficulty  in  escaping. 
After  two  or  three  w^eeks  the  shell  of 
the  chrysalis  bursts,  and  the  moth 
ejects  against  the  end  of  the  cocoon  a 
strongly  alkaline  liquid  which  moistens 
and  dissolves  the  hard,  gummy  lining. 
Pushing  aside  some  of  the  silken 
threads  and  breaking  others,  with 
crimped  and  damp  wings  the  moth 
emerges  ;  and  the  exit  once  effected,  the 
wings  soon  expand  and  dry. 

The  escape  of  the  moth,  however, 
breaks  so  many  threads  that  the  co- 
coons are  ruined  for  reeling,  and  con- 
sequently, when  ten  days  old,  all  those 


not  intended  for  seed  are  placed  in  a 
steam  heater  to  stifle  the  chrysalis,  and 
the  silk  may  then  be  reeled  at  any  future 
time. 

The  moths  are  cream  white  in  color. 
They  have  no  mouths,  but  do  have  eyes, 
which  is  just  the  reverse  of  the  case  of 
the  worm.  From  the  time  it  begins  to 
spin  until  the  moth  dies,  the  insect  takes 
no  nourishment.  The  six  forward  legs 
of  the  worm  become  the  legs  of  the 
moth.  Soon  after  mating  the  eggs  are 
laid. 

The  male  has  broader  feelers  than 
the  female,  is  smaller  in  size,  and  quite 
active.  The  female  lays  half  her  eggs, 
rests  a  few  hours,  and  then  lays  the 
remainder.  Her  two  or  three  days'  life 
is  spent  within  a  space  occupying  less 
than  six  inches  in  diameter. 

One  moth  lays  from  three  to  four 
hundred  eggs,  depositing  them  over  an 
even  surface.  In  some  species  a  gum- 
my liquid  sticks  the  eggs  to  the  object 
upon  which  they  are  laid.  In  the  large 
cocoon  varieties  there  are  full  thirty 
thousand  eggs  in  a  single  ounce  avoir- 
dupois. It  takes  from  twenty-five  hun- 
dred to  three  thousand  cocoons  to  make 
a  pound  of  reeled  silk.  Do  you  wonder 
that,  centuries  aigo,  silk  was  valued  at 
its  weight  in  gold? 

Growers  of  silk  in  the  United  States, 
by  working  early  and  late  every  day 
during  the  season,  which  lasts  from 
six  to  eight  weeks,  could  scarcely  aver- 
age fifteen  cents  for  a  day's  labor  of 
ten  hours.  Silk,  once  regarded  as  a 
luxury,  is  now  considered  a  necessity. 


II'IIM     UIIKII      llli,     MOTHS     ll.WK     IM  I  K'l  ,1 H. 


118 


HOW  THE    COCOON    IS   UNWOUND 


REELING   THE    SILK    FROM    COCOONS    BY    FOOT    POWER,    CALLED    "RE-REEL      SILK. 

The  cocoons  are  first  assorted,  those  of  the  same  color  being  placed  by  themselves, 
and  those  of  fine  and  coarse  texture  likewise.  The  outside  loose  silk  is  then  removed, 
as  this  cannot  be  reeled,  after  which  the  cocoons  are  plunged  into  warm  water  to  soften 
the  "gum"  which  sticks  the  threads  together.  The  operator  brushes  the  cocoons  with  a  small 
broom,  to  the  straws  of  which  their  fibers  become  attached,  and  then  carefully  unwinds 
the  loose  silk  until  each  cocoon  shows  but  one  thread.  These  three  operations  are  called 
"soaking,"  "brushing,"  and  "cleansing." 

Into  one  or  two  compartments  in  a  basin  of  warm  water  below  the  reel  are  placed 
four  or  more  cocoons,  according  to  the  size  of  the  thread  desired.  The  threads  from  the 
cocoons  in  each  compartment  are  gathered  together  and,  after  passing  through  two 
separate  perforated  agates  a  few  inches  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  are  brought 
together  and  twisted  around  each  other  several  times,  then  separated  and  passed  upward 
over  the  traverse  guide-eyes  to  the  reel.  The  traverse  moves  to  and  fro  horizontally,  dis- 
tributing the  thread  in  a  broad  band  over  the  surface  of  the  reel.  The  rapid  crossing 
of  the  thread  from  side  to  side  of  the  skein  in  reeling  facilitates  handling  and  unwinding 
without  tangling,  the  natural  gum  of  the  silk  sticking  the  threads  to  each  other  on  the 
arms  of  the  reel,  thus  securing  the  traverse.  Silk  reeled  by  hand  or  foot  power  is  known 
as  "Re-reel"  silk,  while  silk  reeled  by  power  machinery  is  called  "Filature." 


.\   FILATURE — RLELIXG  THE   SILK   FROM   COCOONS    BV   POWER   MACHINERY.* 


WHERE   MAN'S  WORK  ON  THE  SILK  BEGINS 


119 


DRYING  SKEIXS  OF  SILK. 


The  raw  silk  is  first  assorted,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  fiber,  as  fine, 
medium,  and  coarse.  The  skeins  are 
put  into  canvas  bags  and  then  soaked 
over  night  in  warm  soapsuds.  This  is 
necessary  to  soften  the  natural  gum  in 


skeins  are  dry,  they  are  ready  for  the 
first  process  of  manufacturing.  The 
room  we  now  step  into  is  filled  with 
"winding  frames,"  each  containing  two 
long  rows  of  "swifts,"  from  which  the 
silk  is  wound  on  to  bobbins.    The  bob- 


WI.NWNG  FRAMES — WINDING   THE  SILK  ON    BOliUlNS. 


the  silk,  which  had  stuck  the  threads 
together  on  the  arms  of  the  reel.  Fol- 
lowing the  soaking,  the  skeins  arc 
straightened  out  and  hung  across  poles 
in  a  steam-heated  room,  as  shown  in  the 
accompanying  photograph.     When  the 


bins  are  large  spools  about  three  inches 
long,  Tilie  lx)bbins  filled  with  silk,  as 
wound  from  the  skeins,  are  next  placed 
on  pins  of  the  "doubling  frames" ;  the 
thread  from  several  bobbins,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  silk  desired,  is 


120 


THE  SILK   IS  \\OUND   ON    SPOOLS 


DOUBLING   FRAMES — THE   SILK  THREAD  IS   MADE  UNIFORM. 


passed  upward  throu,2:H  drop  wires  on 
to  another  bobbin.  Should  one  of  the 
threads  break,  the  "drop  wire"  falls, 
which  action  stops  the  bobbin.  By  this 
ingenious  device  absolute  uniformity  in 
the  size  of  silk  is  secured.  The  "doub- 
ling frame''  is  shown  in  one  of  the  pho- 
tographs herewith. 

The  bobbins  taken  from  the  "doub- 
ling frame"  are  next  placed  on  a  "spin- 
ner." Driven  by  an  endless  belt  at  the  rate 
of  over  six  thousand  turns  a  minute, 
the  bobbins  revolve,  the  silk  from  them 
heing  drawn  upward  on  to  another  bob- 


bin. This  spins  the  several  strands 
brought  together  by  the  "doubling  proc- 
ess" into  one  thread,  the  number  of 
turns  depending  on  the  kind  of  silk — 
Filo  silk  being  spun  quite  slack,  and 
Machine  Twist  just  the  reverse. 

A  transferring  machine  combines  two 
or  three  of  these  strands ;  two  for  sew- 
ing silk  and  three  for  machine  twist ; 
and  the  bobbin  next  goes  on  to  the 
"twisting  machine" — a  machine  that  is 
similar  to  a  "spinner,"  but  the  silk  is 
twisted  in  the  opposite  direction  from 
the   spinning.     To   stand   before  these 


SPINNING    SILK.* 


TWISTING    SILK. 


SILK   THREADS  READY    FOR   THE   WEAVER 


121 


WATER    STRETCHER — MAKING   THE    SILK   THREAD    SMOOTH. 


machines  and  watch  how  rapidly  and 
how  accurately  they  do  the  work  as- 
signed them  is  a  revelation.  No  one 
realizes  how  nicely  the  parts  are  ad- 
justed. If  but  one  tiny  strand  breaks 
that  part  of  the  machinery  is  stopped 
by  an  automatic  device  which  works 
instantaneously.  After  twistins;',  the 
silk  is  stretched  by  an  ing'enious  ma- 
chine called  a  "water-stretcher."  This 
smooths  and  consolidates  the  constit- 
uent fibers,  giving  an  evenness  to  the 
silk  not  to  be  obtained  by  any  other 
known  process.  The  bobbins  are  placed 
in  water  and  the  silk  is  wound  on  to 
the  lower  of  tlie  two  copper  rolls.  From 
the  lower  roll  it  passes  upward  to  the 
upper  roll,  which  turns  faster  than  the 
lower  one,  thereby  stretching  the  silk. 
From  the  upper  roll  it  passes  again  on 
to  a  bobbin. 

The  dyeing  process  is  a  very  import- 


ant one,  and  upon  its  success  depends 
the  permanency  of  the  various  colors. 
Vast  tubs,  tanks,  and  kettles  sur- 
round you  on  every  side,  and  the  hiss- 
ing steam  seems  to  spring  from  all 
quarters.  The  "gum"  of  the  silk  is 
first  boiled  out  by  immersion  in  strong 
soapsuds  for  about  four  hours.  The 
attendants,  standing  in  heavy  "clogs" 
(big  shoes  with  wooden  soles  two 
inches  thick),  turn  the  silk  on  the  sticks 
at  intervals  until  the  gum  is  removed. 
After  the  silk  is  dyed  it  is  put  into  a 
"steam  finisher,"  a  device  looking  like  a 
long,  narrow  box  with  a  cover  opening 
on  the  side,  set  upright  on  top  of  an 
iron  cylinder.  The  hanks  of  silk  arc 
placed  upon  two  pins  in  the  steam  chest, 
the  cover  fastened,  and  the  live  steajii 
rushes  in  around  the  silk.  This  bright- 
ens the  silk,  giving  it  the  lustrous, 
glossy  ap])carancc. 


The  editors  arc  inclebtcd  to  the  Corticclli  Silk  Mills,  I'Morcncc,  Mass.,  for  this  story 
of  how  silk  is  made,  as  well  as  for  permission  to  iiso  their  splendid  life-like  copyriKhled 
photoKrai)hs  of  the  silkworm.  Many  teachers  will  he  js'lad  to  know  that  they  can  obtain 
from  the  Crjrticelli  Silk  Mills,  at  slij,'ht  expense,  specimen  cocoons  and  other  helps  for 
object   lesson   teaching. 


122     ANIMALS   THAT   CAN    LEAP   THE    GREATEST    DISTANCE 


"What   Animal   Can   Leap   the   Greatest 
Distance  ? 

The  galago,  or  flying  lemur.  This 
singular  animal  is  a  native  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago.  It  is  from  2  ft.  to  3  ft. 
in  length,  and  is  furnished  with  a  sort 
of  membrane  on  each  side  of  its  body 
connecting  its  limbs  with  each  other ; 
this  is  extended  and  acts  as  a  parachute 
\\  hile  taking  its  long  leaps,  which  meas- 
ure about  300  ft.  in  an  inclined  plane. 
The  kangaroo  can  leap  with  ease  a  dis- 
tance of  between  60  ft.  and  70  ft.  and 
can  spring  clean  over  a  horse  and  take 
fences  from  12  ft.  to  14  ft.  in  height. 
The  animals  that  can  leap  the  greatest 
distance  in  proportion  to  their  size  are 
the  flea  and  the  grasshopper,  the  former 
being  able  to  leap  over  an  obstacle  five 
hundred  times  its  own  height,  while  the 
grasshopper  can  leap  for  a  distance 
measuring  200  times  its  own  length. 
The  springbok  will  clear  from  30  ft.  to 
40  ft.  at  a  single  bound.  The  flying 
squirrel,  in  leaping  from  tree  to  tree 
often  clears  50  ft.  in  a  leap.  This  an- 
imal also  has  a  broad  fold  of  skin  or 
membrane  connecting  its  fore  and  hind 
legs.  A  steeplechase  horse,  called  The 
Chandler,  is  reported  to  have  covered 
39  ft.  in  a  single  leap  at  Warwick  some 
years  ago.  Some  species  of  antelopes 
can  make  a  leap  36  ft.  in  length  and  10 
ft.  in  height.  A  lion  and  a  tiger  each 
clear  from  18  ft.  to  over  20  ft.  at  a 
bound  while  springing  on  their  prey.  A 
salmon  often  leaps  15  ft.  out  of  the 
water  in  ascending  the  falls  of  rivers. 

Why  Do  We  Call  Voting  Balloting? 

The  term  covers  all  forms  of  secret 
voting,  as  in  early  times  such  votes  were 
determined  by  balls  of  different  colors 
deposited  in  the  same  box,  or  balls  of 
one  color  placed  in  various  boxes.  The 
Greeks  used  shells  (ostrakon),  whence 
we  derive  the  term  ostracism.  In  139 
B.C.  the  Romans  voted  by  tickets.  The 
ballot  was  first  used  in  America  in  1629, 
when  the  Salem  Church  thus  chose  a 
pastor.  It  was  employed  in  the  Nether- 
lands in  the  same  year,  but  was  not 
established  in  England  until  1872,  al- 
though in  Soctland  it  was  used  in  cases 


of  ostracism  in  the  17th  century.  In 
1634  the  governor  of  IMassacluisetts 
was  elected  by  ballot,  and  the  constitu- 
tions of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and 
North  Carolina  adopted  in  1776,  made 
this  method  of  voting  obligatory.  The 
ballot  progressed  slowly  in  the  South- 
ern States,  Kentucky  retaining  the  viva 
voce  method  until  a  comparatively  re- 
cent date.  In  certain  states,  the  con- 
stitutions stipulate  that  the  legislature 
shall  vote  viva  voce,  i.  e.,  cast  their 
votes  orally.  Since  1875  ^^^  congress- 
men have  been  elected  by  ballot.  In 
1888  the  Australian  ballot  system, 
which  requires  the  names  of  all  the 
candidates  for  the  various  offices  to  be 
placed  on  one  large  sheet  of  paper, 
commonly  known  as  a  "blanket"  ticket, 
was  adopted  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  and 
some  sections  of  Massachusetts.  It  is 
now  in  very  general  use  in  this  coun- 
try. The  voter,  in  the  privacy  of  an 
individual  booth,  indicates  his  prefer- 
ence by  making  a  mark  opposite  a  party 
emblem  or  a  candidate's  name.  This 
system  originated  in  1851  with  Francis 
S.  Button,  of  South  Australia,  and 
Henry  George,  in  a  pamphlet,  "Eng- 
li.'^h  Elections,"  published  in  1882,  was 
the  first  to  advocate  it  in  the  United 
States.  The  first  bill  enacting  it  into  a 
law  here  was  introduced  in  the  Mich- 
igan legislature  in  1887,  but  it  did  not 
pass  until   1889. 

Why  Do  We  Call  a  Cab  a  Hansom? 

The  term  is  applied  usually  to  a  pub- 
lic vehicle,  known  in  England  as  a  "two- 
wheeler,"  or  "Hansom"  (from  the 
name  of  the  inventor),  and  drawn  by 
one  horse.  In  a  hansom  cab,  the  pas- 
senger or  hirer  of  the  vehicle  sits  im- 
mediately in  rear  of  the  dashboard,  the 
driver  sitting  on  an  elevated  perch  be- 
hind, the  reins  being  passed  over  the 
top.  The  term  cab  is  sometimes  also 
applied  to  a  four-seated,  closed  or  open 
carriage,  drawn  by  one  or  two  horses, 
the  driver  sitting  in  front.  The  term 
is  also  applied  to  the  covered  part  of  a 
locomotive,  in  which  the  engineer  and 
fireman  have  their  stations.  The  word 
cab  is  derived  from  the  cabriolet,  a 
light  one-horse  carriage,  with  two  seats 


L«,- 


WHAT  PRODUCES  THE  COLORS  WE  SEE? 


123 


and  a  calash  top.  In  London,  England, 
the  cab  or  hansom  was  called  the  "gon- 
dola" of  the  British  metropolis  by  Dis- 
raeli. 

"Where  Did  the  Name  Calico  Come  From  ? 
A  fabric  of  cotton  cloth,  the  name  be- 
ing derived  from  the  city  of  Calicut,  in 
Madras,  where  it  was  first  manufac- 
tured, and  in  163 1  brought  to  England 
by  the  East  India  Company.  Calico- 
printing,  an  ancient  Indian  and  Chi- 
nese art,  has  become  a  great  industry  in 
this  country  and  in  Britain,  as  well  as 
in  Holland. 

Who  Made  the  First  Postage  Stamp? 

The  stick  on  postage  stamps  so  gen- 
erally used  today  was  invented  by  an 
Englishman  James  Chalmers  in  1834. 
The  English  Government  passed  a  bill 
calling  for  uniform  postage  of  One 
Penny  in  1840  and  furnished  envelopes 
bearing  stamps  printed  on  them.  The 
people  did  not  like  them,  however,  and 
the  adhesive  stamp  invented  by  Chal- 
mers was  substituted.  The  first  stamps 
used  in  America  were  introduced  in 
1847.  People  have,  it  seems,  always 
preferred  to  lick  their  postage  stamps. 

How  Many  Languages  Are  There? 

It  is  said  that  there  are  more  than 
3,400  languages,  including  dialects,  in 
the  world.  Most  of  them  belong,  of 
course,  to  savage  or  uncivilized  people. 
There  are  said  to  be  more  than  900  lan- 
guages used  in  Asia,  almost  600  in 
Europe,  275  in  Africa  and  more  thnn 
1,600  languages  and  dialects  which  are 
American. 

What    Is    the    Deepest    Mine    In    the 
World? 

The  mine  that  goes  farther  down 
than  any  other  in  the  world  is  the  rock 
salt  mine  near  Berlin,  Germany  which 
is  4,175  feet.  It  is  not,  however,  straight 
down  but  somewhat  slanting.  The  Calu- 
met Copper  Mine  near  Lake  Superior 
is  at  a  depth  in  some  places  of  3,900 
feet. 

The  deepest  boring  in  the  world  is  an 
artesian    well    at     iVjtsdam,    Missouri, 


which  is  5,500  feet  deep  or  more  than 
one  mile  straight  down. 

What  Is  Color? 

What  is  termed  the  color-sense  is  the 
power  or  ability  to  distinguish  kinds  or 
varieties  of  light  and  their  distinctive 
tints.  We  owe  the  faculty  of  doing 
this  to  the  structure  of  the  eye  and  its 
elaborate  connecting  nerve  machinery. 
The  eye  in  man  is  specially  sensitive 
to  light,  and  the  sensations  w^e  feel 
through  it  enables  us  to  distinguish  the 
different  colors.  Over  1,000  mono- 
chromatic tints  are  said  to  be  distin- 
guishable by  the  retina  of  the  eye, 
though  these  numerous  tints  are,  in  the 
main,  merely  blendings  or  combinations 
of  the  three  primary  color-sensations, 
the  sense  of  red,  of  green  and  of  violet. 
Each  of  these  colors,  it  has  been  dem- 
onstrated, is  produced  by  light  of  a 
varying  wave  length,  while  white  light 
is  only  light  in  which  the  primary  col- 
ors are  combined  in  proper  proportion. 
Colored  light,  on  the  other  hand,  as 
Newton  proved,  may  be  produced  from 
white  light  in  one  of  three  ways :  First, 
by  refraction  in  a  prism  or  lens,  as  ob- 
served in  the  rainbow;  second,  by  dif- 
fraction, as  in  the  blue  color  of  the  sky, 
or  in  the  tints  seen  in  mother-of-pearl ; 
and  third,  by  absorption,  as  in  the  red 
color  of  a  brick  wall,  or  in  the  green 
of  grass — the  white  light  which  falls 
upon  the  wall  being  wholly  absorbed, 
save  by  the  red,  and  all  that  falls  upon 
the  grass  being  absorbed  except  the 
green.  In  art,  color  means  that  com- 
bination or  modification  of  tints  which 
is  specially  suited  to  produce  a  par- 
ticular or  desired  effect  in  painting ;  in 
music,  the  term  denotes  a  particular 
interpretation  which  illustrates  the  phy- 
sical analogy  between  sound  and  color. 

Where  Did  the  Term  Dixie  Originate? 

The  term  was  applied  originally  to 
New  York  City  when  slavery  existed 
there.  According  to  a  myth  or  legend, 
a  person  named  Dixie  owned  a  tract  of 
land  on  Manhattan  Island  and  had  a 
large  number  of  slaves.  As  Dixie's 
slaves  increased  beyond  the  re(|uire- 
ments  of  the  plantation,  many  were  sent 


124 


HOW    BIG    THE    EARTH    IS 


to  distant  parts.  Nattirally  the  deported 
negroes  looked  upon  their  early  home 
a?  a  place  of  real  and  ahiding  happi- 
ness, as  did  those  from  the  "Ole  Vir- 
ginny"  of  later  days.  Hence  "Dixie" 
became  the  synonym  for  a  locality 
where  the  negroes  were  happy  and  con- 
tented. In  the  South,  Dixie  is  taken  to 
mean  the  Southern  States.  There  the 
word  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived 
from  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  for- 
merly dividing  the  free  states  from  the 
slave  states.  It  is  said  to  have  first 
come  into  use  there  when  Texas  joinetl 
the  Union,  and  the  negroes  sang  of  it 
as  Dixie.  It  has  been  the  theme  of 
several  popular  songs,  notably  that  of 
Albert  Pike,  "Southrons,  Hear  Your 
Country  Call";  that  of  T.  M.  Cooley, 
"Away  Down  South  where  Grows  the 
Cotton,"  and  that  of  Dan  Emmett,  the 
refrain  usually  containing  the  word 
'  Dixie"  or  the  words  "Dixie's  Land." 
During  the  Civil  War,  the  tune  of 
"Dixie"  w^as  to  the  Southern  people  what 
"Yankee  Doodle"  had  always  been  to 
the  people  of  the  whole  Union  and 
what  it  continued,  in  war  times,  to  be 
to  the  Northern  people,  the  comic  na- 
tional air.  The  tune  is  "catchy"  to  the 
popular  ear  and  it  was  played  by  the 
bands  in  the  Union  army  during  the 
war  as  freely  as  by  those  on  the  other 
side.  During  the  rejoicing  in  Wash- 
iiigton  over  the  surrender  of  Lee  at 
Appomattox,  a  band  played  "Dixie"  in 
front  of  the  White  House.  President 
Lincoln  began  a  short  speech,  immedi- 
ately afterward,  with  the  remark,  "That 
tune  fairly  belongs  to  us  now;  we've 
captured  it." 

How  Big  Is  the  Earth? 

The  third  ])lanet  in  order  of  distance 
from  the  sun.  Mercury  and  Venus  be- 
ing nearer  to  it.  It  is  in  shape  a  sphere 
Slightly  flattened  at  the  poles  and  bulged 
at  the  equator,  hence  it  is  called  an 
ablate  spheroid.  The  equatorial  diam- 
eter or  axis  measures  7,926  miles  and 
1. 041  yds.,  and  the  polar  diameter  is 
7,899  miles  and  1.023  yds.  The  earth 
revolves  upon  its  axis,  completing  its 
diurnal  or  daily  revolution  in  a  sidereal 
day,  which  is  3  minutes  and  55.9  sec- 


onds shorter  than  a  mean  solar  day.  ll 
revolves  around  the  sim  in  one  sidereal 
}ear,  which  is  365  days,  6  hours,  9  min- 
utes, and  9  seconds.  Its  orbit  or  path 
around  the  sun  is  an  ellipse,  having 
the  sun  in  one  of  the  foci.  The  earth's 
mean  distance  from  the  sun  is  93,000,- 
000  miles.  Its  axis  is  inclined  to  the 
plane  of  its  orbit  at  an  angle  of  23° 
27'  12.68".  The  circumference  at  the 
equator  measures  24,899  miles.  The  total 
surface  is  196,900,278  sq.  miles,  and 
the  solid  contents  is  260,000,000,000 
cul)ic  miles.  As  we  descend  into  the 
earth  the  temperature  rises  at  the  rate 
of  1°  Fahr.  for  every  50  ft.  At  the 
depth  of  10  or  12  miles  the  earth  is 
red-hot,  and  at  a  depth  of  100  miles  the 
temperature  is  such  that  at  the  surface 
of  the  earth  it  would  liquefy  all  solid 
matter  in  the  earth. 

What  Causes  Hail? 

Hail  is  the  name  given  to  the  small 
masses  of  ice  which  fall  in  showers,  and 
which  are  called  hailstones.  When  a 
hailstone  is  examined  it  is  found  usu- 
ally to  consist  of  a  central  nucleus  of 
compact  snow%  surrounded  by  succes- 
sive layers  of  ice  and  snow.  Hail 
fcdls  chiefly  in  Spring  and  Summer, 
and  often  accompanies  a  thunderstorm. 
Hailstones  are  formed  by  the  gradual 
rise  and  fall,  through  different  degrees 
of  temperature  (by  the  action  of  wind- 
storms), and  they  then  take  on  a  cov- 
ering of  ice  or  frozen  snow,  according 
as  they  are  carried  through  a  region 
of  rain  or  snow. 

With  regard  to  rain,  it  may  be  said, 
in  popular  language,  that  under  the  in- 
fluence of  solar  heat,  water  is  con- 
stantly rising  into  the  air  by  evapora- 
tion from  the  surface  of  the  sea,  lakes, 
rivers,  and  the  moist  surface  of  the 
ground.  Of  the  vapors  thus  formed  the 
greater  part  is  returned  to  the  earth 
as  rain.  The  moisture,  originally  in- 
visible, first  makes  its  appearance  as 
cloud,  mist  or  fog ;  and  under  certain 
atmospheric  conditions  the  condensa- 
tion proceeds  still  further  until  the 
moisture  falls  to  the  earth  as  rain. 
Simply  and  briefly,  then,  rain  is  caused 
by  the  cooling  of  the  air  charged  with 
moisture. 


WHY  WE  CALL  THEM  WISDOM  TEETH 


125 


Why   Does   a   Human   Being   Have   To 
Learn  to  Swim? 

It  is  strange,  isn't  it,  that  almost  ev- 
ery animal,  excepting  man  and  possibly 
the  monkey,  knows  how  to  swim  natur- 
ally ;  others  such  as  birds,  horses,  dogs, 
cows,  elephants,  can  swim  as  soon  as 
they  can  move  about  alone. 

The  trouble  with  man  in  this  connec- 
tion is  that  his  natural  motion  is  climb- 
ing. He  has  been  a  climber  ever  since 
he  was  developed  from  the  monkey,  and 
when  you  throw  him  into  the  water  be- 
fore he  has  learned  to  swim,  he  natur- 
ally starts  to  climb  and  as  a  climbing 
m.otion  won't  do,  for  swimming,  the 
man  will  drown. 

This  climbing  motion  is  as  much  of 
an  instinct  in  man  and  monkeys  as  the 
instinct  in  dogs  which  causes  him  to 
turn  round  once  or  twice  before  he  lies 
down  just  as  his  forefathers  used  to  do 
ages  ago  when,  as  wild  dogs,  they  first 
had  to  trample  the  grass  before  they 
could  lie  down  comfortably. 


Why  Do  I  Get  Cold  in  a  Warm  Room? 

I  suppose  you  mean  the  instances 
when  you  get  cold  while  in  a  warm 
room  even  when  you  are  perfectly  well. 
This  will  happen  often  when  all  of  the 
moisture  in  the  room  outside  of  what 
is  in  your  body,  is  evaporated  by  the 
beat  in  the  room.  The  remedy  is,  of 
course,  to  keep  a  pan  of  water  some 
])lace  in  the  room  as  the  air  has  become 
too  dry. 

While  heat  is  necessary  to  evaporate 
water,  the  process  of  evaporation  pro- 
duces cold.  The  quicker  the  evapora- 
tion the  sharper  the  cold  feeling  ])ro- 
duccfl.  Now  your  body  is  continually 
c^'aporating  the  water  from  your  body 
which  comes  out  in  the  form  of  per- 
spiration through  the  pores  of  the  skin. 
This  is  one  of  nature's  ways  of  taking 
the  impurities  and  waste  out  of  the 
body.  You  know,  of  course,  don't  you, 
that  more  than  one-half  the  waste  ma- 
terial which  the  bf)dy  expels  from  the 
system  comes  out  through  the  pf)res  of 
the  skin  rather  than  through  the  canals. 


When  the  air  in  the  room  becomes 
too  dry,  the  evaporation  on  the  outside 
of  the  body  proceeds  faster  and  makes 
you  cold.  By  keeping  water  in  some 
vessel  in  the  room  you  keep  the  air  of 
the  room  from  becoming  too  dry. 


Why    Do    They    Call    Them    Wisdom 
Teeth  ? 

The  wisdom  teeth  are  the  two  last 
molar  teeth  to  grow.  They  come  one 
on  each  side  of  the  jaw  and  arrive 
somewhere  between  the  ages  of  twenty 
and  twenty-five  years.  The  name  is 
given  them  because  it  is  supposed  that 
when  a  person  has  developed  physically 
and  mentally  to  the  point  where  he  has 
secured  these  last  two  teeth  he  has  also 
arrived  at  the  age  of  discretion.  It  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  one  who  has 
cut  his  wisdom  teeth  is  wise,  but  that 
having  lived  long  enough  to  grow  these, 
which  complete  the  full  set  of  teeth, 
the  person  has  passed  sufficient  actual 
years  that,  if  he  has  done  what  he 
should  to  fit  himself  for  life,  he  should 
have  come  by  that  time  at  the  age  of 
discretion  or  wisdom.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  these  teeth  grow  at  about  the  same 
age  in  people  whether  they  are  wise  or 
not. 

What  Makes  Freckles  Come? 

Freckles  are  generally  caused  by  the 
exposure  of  unprotected  parts  of  the 
body  to  the  sun,  but  this  will  not  cause 
freckles  on  all  people.  Only  peo])le 
with  certain  kinds  of  sensitive  skins 
freckle.  W^hat  happens  when  freckles 
are  produced  in  this  way  is  this :  The 
sunlight  shining  on  the  face,  neck  or 
arms  of  anyone  who  has  a  tendency  to 
freckle,  has  a  ])eculiar  action  on  certain 
cells  of  the  skin  which  produces  a  yel- 
lowish brown  coloring  pigment,  which 
remains  for  a  time. 

'i'hen  again  the  skins  of  some  people 
arc  so  peculiarly  sensitive  the  cells  de- 
velop this  kind  of  coloring  niatli-r  in 
almost  any  kind  of  light  and  such 
people  are,  so  to  speak,  apt  to  be- 
freckled    for  life. 


126 


HOW   MEN    LEARNED  TO   FLY 


First  successful  power-driven  aeroplane.    The  Langley  monoplane  with  steam  engine,  which 
flew  over  the  Potomac  River  in  1896. 


The  Flying  Boat 


When  Did  Man  First  Try  to  Fly? 

Man's  desire  to  conquer  the  air  is 
older  than  recorded  history.  When  a 
kite  was  flown  for  the  first  time  the 
principle  of  aviation,  or  dynamic  flight, 
was  uncovered.  For  centuries  man  has 
sought  the  mechanical  equivalents  for 
the  things  that  keep  a  kite  flying  stead- 
ily in  the  air, — the  power  that  lies  in 
the  cord  that  keeps  a  kite  headed  into 
the  wind ;  an  equivalent  for  the  wind's 
own  power ;  an  equivalent  for  the  tail 
which  controls  the  kite's  lateral  and 
longitudinal  balance. 

Each  separate  part  of  the  modern 
flying  machine,  or  aeroplane,  was 
worked  out  long  ago,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  gas  engine  light  enough  and 
reliable  enough  to  be  used  for  this 
work.  The  present  generation  knows 
dynamic  flight  as  a  commonplace  thing, 
not  because  we  are  so  much  more  clever 
than  previous  generations  in  designing 
flying  machines,  but  because  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  modern  gasoline  or 
internal  combustion  engine. 


Who  Invented  Flying? 

No  one  invented  flying,  nor  did  any 
one  man  invent  all  the  separate  parts  of 
the  flying  machine.  They  are  the  re- 
sult of  evolution, — of  the  combined 
work  and  thought  of  hundreds  of  men, 
many  of  whose  names  are  unrecorded. 
To  attempt  to  find  the  true  beginning 
of  the  modern  flying  machine  would 
be  as  difficult  as  attempting  to  discover 
who  planted  the  seed  of  the  tree  from 
which  one  has  gathered  a  rose.  But 
the  tree  from  which  all  the  flying  ma- 
chines, or  aeroplanes,  of  today  have 
sprung  undoubtedly  is  Dr.  Samuel 
Pierrpont  Langley,  third  secretary  of 
the    Smithsonian    Institution. 

Some  of  the  Men  Who  Helped. 

Taking  the  most  conspicuous  names 
of  scientists  who  worked  out  various 
details  of  the  aeroplane  during  the  past 
century  we  find  that  a  century  ago  Sir 
George  Cayley  built  a  machine  on  lines 
very  similar  to  those  accepted  today, 
and  he  went  so  far  as  to  foretell  the 


EARLY  TYPES  OF   FLYING   MACHINES 


127 


One  of  Dr.  Langiey's  first  models ;  a  biplane  with  flexible  wing-tips  and  twin  propellers,   li. 


necessity  of  developing  the  internal 
combustion  engine  before  dynamic 
flight  could  be  a  success.  Mr.  F.  H. 
W'enham,  in  1866,  also  built  a  flying 
machine  along  conventional  lines  and 
tried  to  fly  it  with  a  steam  engine,  which 
of  course,  proved  too  heavy. 

M.  A.  Penaud,  a  Frenchman,  in  ex- 
perimenting with  models,  seems  to  hive 
been  the  first  to  discover  the  necessity 
of  vertical  and  horizontal  rudders  in 
maintaining  balance.  Mr.  Horatio 
Phillips,  an  Englishman,  discovered, 
and  patented,  the  use  of  curved  instead 
of  flat  surfaces  for  the  planes.  Otto 
and  Gustav  Lilienthal  are  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  attempt  to  balance 
aeroplanes  by  flexing  or  bending  the 
wings.  Various  others,  including 
Messrs.  Richard  Ifarte,  Boulton,  Mouil- 
lard,  worked  out  ideas  for  balancing 
machines  by  the  use  of  auxiliary  planes 
which  could  be  set  at  different  angles 
with  regard  to  the  line  of  flight,  thus 
forcing  the  machines  to  different  po- 
sitions by  the  force  of  the  air  rushing 
against  them. 

Dr.  Langley,  trained  in  scientific  in- 
vestigation, conducted  an  elaborate 
series  of  experiments  covering  many 
years  and  costing  thousands  of  dollars 
to  test  and  prove  the  value  of  the 
claims     of     the     cirlier     investigators. 


Some  things  which  he  thought  he  was 
the  first  to  discover, — such  as  the  ef- 
fect of  the  vertical  and  horizontal  rud- 
ders,— he  later  found  had  already  been 
proven  by  others.  Independently  he 
covered  the  entire  field  of  experiment 
and  after  building  hundreds  of  small 
models  he  succeeded,  in  1896,  in  making 
a  machine  weighing  several  pounds 
equipped  with,  a  very  light  steam  engine 
which  flew  safely  as  long  as  the  fuel 
lasted.  For  his  early  experiments  Dr. 
Langley  was  afforded  financial  assist- 
ance by  Mr.  William  Thaw  of  Pitts- 
burg. After  the  success  of  his  small 
machines  Dr.  Lan:^ley  was  asked  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  a  large, 
man-carrying  machine,  and  Congress 
voted  him  $.S0.CO0  to  carry  on  the  work. 
A  large  share  of  this  was  spent  on 
the  devcloi)mcnt  of  a  very  light  gaso- 
line engine.  The  machine  finally  was 
completed.  l)ut  was  twice  broken 
through  defective  lumching  apparatus. 
Congress  and  Dr.  langley  were  so  ridi- 
culed by  the  public  press  that  the  ma- 
chine was  temporarilv  abandoned.  Not, 
however,  tmtil  after  Dr.  Langley  had 
successfully  llown  a  steam  driven  ma- 
chine much  larger  than  many  of  tlie 
racing  acroplines  of  today. 

lUit  eight  years  after  Dr.  Langlev's 
death,  wliii-h  is  said  to  have  been  <lue 


1 28 


THE    FIRST  /V\AN=CARRVING   AEROPLANE 


First    successful    man-carrying    aeroplane.      Designed    by    Dr.    Langlcy    in    1898;    tlovvn    by 
Glenn  H.  Curtiss  at  Hammondsport,  N.  Y.,  1914. 


to  the  heart-breakiiig  disappointment 
he  suffered  in  trying  to  demonstrate  the 
large  machine,  Glenn  H.  Curtiss,  at 
the  request  of  the  Smithsonian  Insti- 
tution, rebuilt  the  old  Langley  machine 
and  succeeded  in  making  a  flight  with 
it  at  Hammondsport,  N.  Y.,  on  May 
28,  1914. 


While  longer  flights  probably  will  he 
made  with  this  machine  none  will  attain 
greater  importance,  'because  this  first 
tlight  with  it  was  sufficient  to  estab- 
lish for  all  time  the  fact  that  Dr.  Lang- 
ley  built  the  first  man-carrying  ma- 
chine equipped  with  a  gasoline  engine 
and  able  to  fly  and  raise  itself  with  its 


^jyonauJ 


Front  view  of  big  Langley  machine  in    1914. 


THE   MACHINE  WITH   WHICH   BLERIOT   FLEW  IN   EUROPE    129 


own  ipower'.  This  was  considerably 
more  than  was  accompHshed  by  other 
machines  for  some  time  after  Dr.  Lang- 
ley's  death.  The  Langley  machine  not 
only  lifted  the  weight  it  was  designed 
to  fly  with,  but  also  carried  pontoon 
and  other  fittings,  added  by  Mr.  Curtiss 
to  make  flight  from  the  water  possible, 
which  added  340  pounds  to  the  original 
weight  of  the  machine. 

The  connection  between  Dr.  Lang- 
ley's  work  and  present  machines  is  now 
very  easy  to  trace,  though  not  obvious 
untiT  191 L  when  the  Smithsonian  In- 


known  as  the  Curtiss  type  of  machines. 

Another  line  is  that  carried  bv  a  Mr. 
A.  M.  Herring  to  Mr.  Chanute  and  by 
him  transmitted  to  Mr.  Wilbur  Wright, 
finding  expression  in  the  Wright  type 
of  biplane. 

The  third  line  is  that  leading  to  the 
modern  monoplane  school ;  M.  Bleriot 
having  first  copied  in  toto  the  tandem 
monoplane  form,  generally  known  as 
the  Langley  type,  and  later,  with  the 
development  of  better  gasoline  engines, 
developing  into  the  monoplane  as  known 
today. 


Copy  of  early  Langle}   model  with  which  Bleriot  made  first  circuhir  flight  in  Europe. 


stitution  pul)lished  memoirs  written  by 
Dr.  Langley  in  1897,  and  some  memoirs 
of  Mr.  Octave  Chanute,  a  French  engi- 
neer who  resided  in  Chicago,  and  who 
forms  one  of  the  main  connecting  links-. 
The  chain  is  practically  completed  by 
notes  left  by  the  late  Lieut.  Thomas  Sel- 
fridge,  U.  S.  A.,  America's  first  martyr 
to  aviation. 

Dr.  Langley's  knowledge  is  repre- 
sented in  modern  aviation  by  three  dis- 
tinct lines.  The  central  and  most  di- 
rect line  is  through  Dr.  Alexander 
riraham  IU-11,  inventor  of  the  telephone, 
to  the  Aerial  l^xperiment  Association, 
and  thence  to  Mr.  Tilcnn  11.  ("urtiss, 
and    finrls    its    ex]>ression    in    what    is 


W^ith  the  exception  of  M.  Bleriot  it 
is  doubtful  if  the  others  fully  realized 
the  .source  of  their  inspiration, — not 
to  call  it  information. 

Dr.  Bell  was  interested  in  Dr.  Lang- 
ley's  work  for  more  than  ten  years  be- 
fore Dr.  Langley  gave  tip.  lie  ob- 
served many  of  the  trials,  and  his  re- 
ports of  the  first  successful  flights  arc 
incorporated  in  the  official  ptiblications 
of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Dr. 
Bell  began  some  independent  experi- 
ments, btit  following  Dr.  Langley's 
death  he  formed  the  Aerial  Experiment 
Association,  to  carry  on  the  work  left 
by  Dr.  I^ingley.  Tlie  members  of  this 
organization  were,  Mr.  Curtiss,  at  that 


130      WHAT  TWO    BROTHERS   ACCOMPLISHED   FOR   FLYING 


time  the  most  successful  builder  of  lisrht 
motors;  Lieut.  Thomas  H.  Selfridgc, 
U.  S.  A. ;  Mr.  J.  A.  D.  McCurdy  and 
Air.  F.  W.  Baldwin,  two  young-  Ca- 
nadian enq-ineers.  Mrs.  Bell  financed  the 
project,  furnishing  the  sum  of  $35,000 
for  the  experiments. 

The  ^^'ric:ht  Brothers,  for  \\'ilbur 
\\'ri<:;:ht  was  joined  by  his  brother  (Ir- 
vine in  the  experiments,  were  the  first 
to  reap  success  from  the  seeds  of  Dr. 
Langley's  sowing.  Mr.  Oianute  had 
been  experimenting  with  a  biplane  form 
of  motorless  .glider  Avith  little  success, 
because  of  lack  of  means  for  balancing 
the  machines  in  the  air,  until  he  was 
joined  by  a  former  employe  of  Dr. 
Langley.  He  appears  to  have  imparted 
to  Mr.  Chanute  the  secret  of  the  sta- 
bilizing eflfect  of  the  Penaud  tail,  or 
combination  of  vertical  and  horizontal 
rudders.  Thereafter  hundreds  of  suc- 
cessful gliding  flights  were  made  with 
the  Chanute  biplane,  though  Gianute 
seems  not  to  have  grasped  the  full  sig- 
nificance of  the  rudders, — though  'it 
was  well  understood  by  Dr.  Langley. 
To  the  Chanute  machine,  as  described 
to  him,  Mr.  Wright  added  first  the  idea 
of  flexing  or  warping  the  wings,  after 
the  fashion  set  by  the  Lilienthals.  He 
found,  however,  as  Dr.  Langley  had 
found  years  before,  that  in  attempting 
to  correct  lateral  balance  in  this  way 
caused  the  aeroplane  to  swerve  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  fixed  vertical  rudder, 
as  originally  employed,  did  not  correct 
the  upsetting  tendency  that  was  de- 
veloped. Air.  Wright  then  arranged  his 
rudder  in  such  a  way  that  when  the 
wing  was  warped  the  rudder  turned  in 
a  way  to  offset  the  swerve.  This  com- 
bination was  patented  all  over  the  world 
and  has  resulted  in  much  complicated 
litigation. 

To  this  machine  the  Wright  Brothers 
added  a  gasoline  motor  in  December, 
1903,  and  with  it  made  numerous  flights 
during  1904-5.  Their  claims  were  not 
generally  credited  however  until  a  later 
date  for  their  experiments  had  been 
conducted  with  considerable  secrecy, 
and  during  1906,  1907  and  until  late  in 
1908  thev  did  no  more  flvingf. 


In  the  meantime  M.  Blcriot  had 
made  a  copy  of  one  of  the  earlv  Langley 
tandem  monoplane  models  and  made 
some  fairly  successful  flights  with  it 
in  Europe.  Later,  as  gasoline  motors 
developed  in  power  for  weight,  he  re- 
duced the  rear  surface  until  the  modern 
monojilane  evolved. 

While  P)leriot  was  working  in  Eu- 
rope, Dr.  Bell's  Aerial  Experiment  As- 
sociation in  America  was  evolving  still 
another  type  of  machine,  and  the  mem- 
bers of  the  association  made  the  first 
successful  public  flights  in  America. 
Mr.  Curtiss  won  the  Scientific  American 
Trophy  for  the  firs't  time  on  July  4th, 
1908,  by  a  straightaway  flight  of  more 
than  a  kilometer.  The  balancing  sys- 
tem emplo}'ed  by  the  A^  E.  A.  differed 
from  that  employed  'by  the  Wrights  and 
by  Bleriot  in  that  small  auxiliary  planes 
took  the  place  of  warping  planes  for 
righting  the  machine.  This  they 
claimed  to  be  a  superior  method,  first, 
because  it  eliminated  the  use  of  the  rud- 
der as  being  absolutely  essential  to  the 
balance  of  the  machine ;  second,  because 
it  enabled  them  to  make  the  main 
planes  rigid  'throughout,  and  conse- 
quently stronger  than  the  flexible 
planes. 

There  are  several  other  names  that 
must  be  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  early  history  of  successful  flight ; 
these  are  the  Frenchmen.  Messrs.  Henri 
Farman,  Maurice  .Farman,  the  brothers 
A'oisin,  and  Santos  Dumont.  These 
produced  some  of  the  first  notably  suc- 
cessful aeroplanes  in  Europe  but  seem 
to  have  discovered  nothing  which  has 
had  any  marked  effect  upon  the  later 
development  of  flying  machines.  M. 
Farman  adopted  the  auxiliary  planes 
used  by  the  A.  E.  A^  and  modified  them 
to  suit  his  ideas. 

A'olumes  could  be,  in  fact,  have  been 
written  about  the  exploits  of  the  first 
demonstrators  of  the  practical  heavier- 
than-air  flying  machines, — of  the  cross- 
ing of  the  English  Channel  by  Bleriot, 
of  the  flights  by  Wilbur  Wright  at 
Rheims,  France;  of  Mr.  Curtiss'  win- 
ning of  the  first  Gordon  Bennet  Inter- 
national   speed    trophy    and    his    flight 


WONDERFUL  RECORDS  OF  AEROPLANES 


131 


AEROPLANB     "RED  WI 


.AlflllOKDSfQKT^   N.Y 


down  the  Hudson  from  Albany  to  New 
York;  of  Orville  Wright's  flight  at 
Fort  Meyer,  and  the  death  of  Lieut. 
Selfridge  who  was  flying  with  him.  The 
barest  record  of  these  interesting  ac- 
compHshments  would  fill  volumes.  Of 
the  aeroplane  proper  it  is  enou'ijh  to 
say  here  that  since  1908  its  develop- 
ment has  been  too  rapid  for  accurate 
recording.  In  strength,  in  speed,  in 
reliability,  in  size  and  carrying  capacity, 
it  has  developed  at  a  remarkable  rate. 
At  this  writing  the  speed  record  is 
about  130  miles  per  hour;  the  duration 
record  is  more  than  24  hours,  non-stop; 


the  distance  record  is-  some  1,300  miles 
in  one  day;  the  altitude  record  some 
26,000  feet.  New  records  succeed  the 
old  ones  with  such  rapidity  that  prob- 
ably before  this  can  be  printed  all  these 
present  records  will  have  been  greatly 
eclipsed. 

Meantime  the  aeroplane  has  de- 
veloped greatly  in  other  directions.  In 
flying  over  .land  with  the  early  types 
of  machines  many  fatal  accidents  oc- 
curred, particularly  to  the  fliers  who 
gave  exhibitions  everywhere  during 
1909,  1910  and  1911.  A  majority  of 
these  accidents  were  indirectly  due  to 


The  lji|)lanc  in  wliuli  Ti.  H.  Turtiss  flt-vv   from   Alliaiiy   tn   \'<w    ^M^k    n;    iin 


132 


SOME   FAMOUS   FOREIGN    MONOPLANES 


A  modern  German  monoplane. 


The  machine  in  which  Bleriot  crossed  the  English  Channel  in   1909.     A  modified  LangUy 

type. 


^^%Z, 


K^'iftsr.'*  vl_WA.^^. 


.<tl.8:M.o< 


Rolland  Garros  and  monoplane  in  which  he  flew  across  the  Mediterranean  Sea  in  1914. 


THE  WONDERFUL  FLYING  BOAT 


133 


the  fact  that  a  very  smooth  surface  is 
required  for  landing  a  fragile  machine 
running  at  high  speed.  The  obvious 
expedient  was  to  develop  machines 
capable  of  rising  from  and  alighting 
upon  the  water. 

During  the  winter  of  1910  and  1911 
Mr.  Curtiss,  who  had  continued  inde- 
pendent experiments  upon  the  disband- 
ment  of  the  Aerial  Experiment  Asso- 
ciation, succeeded  in  producing  the  first 
machine  to  safely  leave  and  return  to 
the  water.  For  the  development  and 
demonstration    of    this   type    of    flying 


r- 


naval  fliers  and  amateurs  alike  went 
to  show  that  water  flying  offered  not 
only  the  fastest  and  most  comfortable 
mode  of  rapid  travel,  but  also  the  safest, 
for  during  1913  several  hundred  thou- 
sand miles  were  flown  by  navy  aviators 
and  amateur  enthusiasts  in  Curtiss 
water  flying  machines  without  a  single 
serious  accident. 

What  aviation  will  mean  to  future 
generations, — even  to  this  generation  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years, — it  would 
be  foolhardy  to  try  to  guess.  Mr.  Rod- 
man Wanamaker  already  has  agreed  to 


iP^'^ 


"mim 


Different  views   of   flying  boat. 


machine  he  was  awarded  the  Aero  Club 
of  America  Trophy,  and  when  during 
1912  he  produced  still  another  type  of 
water  flying  machine,  the  Curtiss  Fly- 
ing Boat,  he  was  again  awarded  the 
Aero  Qub  Trophy  and  also  voted  a 
I^ngley  Medal  l)y  the  directors  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution. 

Not  until  the  devclo|)mcnt  of  the  fly- 
ing boat  did  the  general  ])ublic  begin 
to  take  a  particij)ative  interest  in  avia- 
tion, but  as  soon  as  the  comparative 
safety  of  this  type  of  machine  became 
apparent  the  new  sport  began  to  be 
taken  u[>  rapidly  both  in  this  country 
and    in    I'.urojtc.      'I'he    cxi)ericnces    of 


furnish  the  financial  support  for  Mr. 
Curtiss'  attempt  to  build  a  machine  to 
fly  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  from 
America  to  Europe.  If  the  venture  is  suc- 
cessful it  is  expected  the  crossing  will 
be  made  in  a  fraction  of  the  time  taken 
by  the  fastest  Transatlantic  liners.  The 
discovery  of  new  metals  and  new  maiui- 
facturing  methods  will  certainly  result 
in  the  development  of  light  motors  that 
may  ibe  relied  upon  to  run  for  days 
without  stopping,  and  automatically 
stable  aero])lancs  seem  to  be  not  far 
away.  This  will  result  in  overland  flight 
as  safe  and  sure  as  we  now  enjoy  over 
water. 


134 


INSIDE   OF   A   MODERN    FLYING    BOAT 


Inlcrior  arrangenu-nt  of  modern  tl\ing  boat,  showing   fuel  tank  and   instrument  hoard. 


Six-passenger  flying  boat  hull.    This  machine  will  fly  i,ooo  miles  without  stopping  for  fuel. 


FUN    IN   A   FLYING   BOAT 


13.5 


l'l\iiig  at  speed  of  a  mile  a  minute. 


Monuplanc  Hying   boat,   Imilt   for   R.  V.   Morris. 


1 

i'lsl 

^^^^^ 

/ 

g 

1 

^4^ 

IBf 

/ 

f 

t-      .                  ,.._,_:                                            <'^' 

In  a  flying  Iki.h  mh  [ilci  m.    li 


136 


GREATEST   PRESENT    VALUE   OF   AEROF>LANE 


At  present  the  rjreatest  value  of  tlic 
aeroplane  seems  to  be  for  military 
reconnaissance  and  all  the  great  powers 
are  striving  their  utmost  to  secure  su- 
premacy in  the  air.  l'>ance,  Germany, 
Russia  and  England  have  to  date  spent 
millions  in  develo])ing  aeroplane  fleets. 
Only  the  government  of  the  Ignited 
States  has  failed  as  yet  to  appreciate 
tlie  military  significance  of  the  ilying 
machine.  If  the  relative  aeronautical 
strength  of  the  world's  nations  were 
represented  alphabetically  the  U.  S. 
would  naturally  scarce  have  to  change 
its  initial,  U  being  slightly  in  advance 
of  Z  -which  wouki  stand  for  Zululand. 
But  even  with  its  auodest  equipment 
the  navy  fliers  of  the  United  States 
proved  the  great  worth  of  the  aeroplane 
and  the  flying  boat,  when  during  the 
recent  trouble  in  Mexico  the  air  scouts 
gathered  in  a  few  minutes  information 
that  could  only  have  been  secured  by 
days  of  cavalry  scouting  before  the 
advent  of  the  flying  machine.  Indeed, 
the.  name  of  Lieut.  P.  N.  L.  Bellinger, 
the  most  able  of  the  naval  fliers  at  ^'era 
Cruz,  has  figured  more  prominently  in 
the  despatches  from  the  front  than  that 
of  anv  other  officer  connected  with  the 
expedition. 


Flying  seems  certain  in  the  very  near 
future  to  take  its  place  as  the  fastest, 
safest  and  most  comfortable  mode  of 
conveyance.  The  flying  boat  will  ren- 
der quickly  accessible  the  vast  country 
lying  along  the  great  rivers  of  Soutli 
America,  Africa,  and  Australia;  it  will 
bridge  the  great  lakes  and  the  oceans ; 
bring  near  together  the  islands  of  tlu' 
Pacific  and  Indian  oceans.  It  will  make 
imperative,  because  of  the  speed  with 
which  distances  will  be  traversed,  of  a 
language  common  to  all  ])eoplcs;  and 
treble  man's  life  without  extending  his 
years  by  uiaking'  it  ])ossih1c  to  see  and 
do  three  times  as  much  in  the  same 
length  of  time. 

Ten  years  ago  on  that  day,  December 
17,  1913,  Wiibur  and  Orville  Wright 
made  four  flights  on  the  coast  of  North 
Carolina  near  Roanoke  Island,  a  spot 
historic  in  America's  history  as  the  site 
of  the  first  English  settlement  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere. 

Tlie  first  flight  started  fromi  level 
ground  against  a  27-mile  wind.  After 
a  run  of  40  feet  on  a  monorail  track, 
the  machine  lifted  and  covered  a  dis- 
tance of  120  feet  over  the  ground  in 
12  seconds.  It  had  a  speed  through 
the  air  of  a  little  over  45  feet  per  sec- 


Flying  liver  military  post  in  Curtiss  l»iplane. 


TEN   YEARS   OF   FLYING 


ond,  and  the  flight,  if  made  in  cahn  air, 
would  have  covered  a  distance  of  over 
540  feet. 

Altogether  four  flights  were  made 
on  the  17th.  The  first  and  third  by  Or- 
ville  Wright,  the  second  and  fourth  by 
Wilbur  Wright.  The  last  flight  was  the 
longest,  covering  a  distance  of  852  feet 
over  the  ground  in  59  seconds.  After 
the  fourth  flight,  a  gust  of  wind  struck 
the  machine  standing  on  the  grounci 
and  rolled  it  over,  injuring  it  to  an  ex- 
tent that  imade  further  flights  with  it 
impossible  for  that  year. 

The  gliding  experiments  of  Lilienthal 
in  1896  led  the  AWight  Brothers  to 
become  interested  in  flight.  The  next 
four  years  were  spent  in  reading  and 
theorizing.  In  tlife  Fall  of  1900  practical 
experiments  were  begun  with  a  man- 
carrying  glider.  These  experiments 
were  carried  on  from  the  sand  hills 
near  Kitty  Hawk,  North  Carolina.  The 
first  glider  was  without  a  tail,  the  lateral 
equilibrium  and  the  right  and  left  steer- 
ing were  obtained  by  w^arping  of  the 
main  surfaces.  A  flexible  forward  ele- 
vator was  used.  This  machine  was 
flown  as  a  kite  with  and  without  opera- 
tor, and  several  glides  were  made  with 
it. 

A  second  machine  w;as  designed  of 
larger  size,  and  many  glides  were  made 
with  it  in  1901.  This  machine  was  sim- 
ilar to  the  one  of  1900  but  had  slightly 
deeper  curved  surfaces.  Experiments 
with  this  machine  demonstrated  the  in- 
accuracy of  all  the  recognized  tables  of 
air  pressures,  upon  which  its  design  had 
been  based. 

In  1902  a  third  glider  -was  con- 
structed, based,  upon  tables  of  air  pres- 
sures made  by  the  Wright  1  brothers 
themselves.  The  lateral  control  was 
maintained  by  warping  surfaces,  and  a 
vertical  rear  rudder  oi)erated  in  con- 
junction with  the  surfaces.  Nearly  a 
thousand  glifling  flights  were  made 
with  this  machine. 

In  1903,  the  Wright  Brothers  de- 
signed a  machine  to  1>e  rlriven  with  a 
motor.  They  also  designed  and  built 
their  own  motor  This  had  four  liori- 
zotit;i1  cvlindfT';,  4  in.  bv  4  in.,  and  (]v- 


138        INTERESTING   GOVERNMENTS    IN    FLYING    MACHINES 


vcloped  12  h.  ]>.  Two  propellers,  turn- 
ing in  opposite  directions,  were  driven 
by  chains  from  the  engine.  After 
many  delays  the  machine  was  finally 
ready  and  was  flown  on  the  17th  of 
December,  l'X)3,  as  related  above. 

In  the  Spring  of  VX)4,  power  flights 
were  continued  near  Dayton  with  a  ma- 
chine similar  to  the  one  flown  in  VX)3^ 
but  slightly  heavier. 

The  first  comj)lcte  circle  was  accom- 
l)lisiied  on  the  20th  of  September,  1904, 
in  a  flight  covering  a  distance  of  aibout 
one  mile.  Altogether  105  flights  were 
attem]ited  during  the  year,  the  longest 
of  which  were  two  of  five  minutes 
each,  covering  a  distance  of  about  three 
miles.  All  of  the  flights  were  started 
from  a  monorail. 

After  September  a  derrick  and  a  fall- 
ing weight  were  used  to  assist  in  launch- 
ing the  machine. 

It  was  not  till  1908  that  the  Wright 
Rrothers  found  purchasers  for  their  in- 
vention. In  that  year  they  made  a  con- 
tract to  furnish  one  machine  to  the  Sig- 
nal Corps  of  the  United  States  Army 
and  to  sell  the  rights  to  their  invention 
in  France  to  a  French  company.  In 
l)oth  cases  they  agreed  to  carry  a  pass- 
enger in  addition  to  the  operator,  fuel 
sufficient  for  a  flight  of  100  miles,  and 
to  make  a  speed  of  40  miles  an  hour. 

After  making  some  preliminary  prac- 
tice flights  at  their  old  experiment 
grounds  near  Kitty  Hawk  in  May,  1908, 
Wilbur  Wright  went  to  France  to  give 
demonstrations  before  the  French  Syn- 
dicate and  Orville  Wright  to  Washing- 
ton to  deliver  the  machine  to  the  United 
States  Signal  Corps.  The  machines 
used  by  Wilbur  Wright  had  been  stand- 
ing in  bond  in  the  warehouse  at  Havre 
since  August  of  the  year  before.  Ow- 
ing to  damage  done  to  the  machine  in 
shipment,  it  was  not  ready  for  the  of- 
ficial demonstrations  until  late  in  the 
year. 

Meanwhile  Orville  Wright  in  Sep- 
tember, 1908,  started  demonstrations  of 
the  machine  contracted  for  by  the 
Ignited  States  Government.  On  the  9th 
he  made  two  flights,  one  of  57  minutes, 
and  the  other  one  hour  and  2  minutes. 


WHERE  THE   WIND   BEGINS 


139 


world's  records.  On  the  10th  and  11th, 
these  records  were  increased  and  on 
the  12th  a  flight  of  1  hour  and  15  min- 
utes was  made.  On  the  17th,  the  tests 
were  terminated  by  an  accident  in  which 
Lieutenant  Sel fridge  met  his  death  and 
Mr.  \\'right  was  severely  injured,  so 
that  he  Avas  not  able  to  complete  the 
tests  until  the  following  year. 

Four  days  after  the  accident,  on  the 
21st  of  September,  Wilbur  Wright 
made  a  flight  of  1  hour  and  31  minutes 
at  Le  Mans,  France,  which  record  he 
improved  several  times  during  the  fol- 
lowing months,  and  on  the  31st  of  De- 
cember, won  the  Michelin  Trophy  by 
a  flight,  in  which  he  remained  in  the 
air  2  hours  and  24  minutes. 

Where  Is  the  Wind  When  It  Is  Not 
Blowing  ? 

The  answer  is,  of  course,  that  there 
isn't  any  wind  then.  To  understand 
this  perfectly  we  must  study  a  little 
and  find  out  what  wind  is.  In  plain 
w^ords  it  is  nothing  more  than  moving 
air. 

If  you  make  a  hole  in  the  bottom 
of  a  pail  of  water  the  water  will  run 
out  slowly.  If  you  knock  the  wdiole 
bottom  out  of  the  pail  filled  with  water, 
the  water  will  rush  out  before  you 
know  it. 

That  is  about  what  happens  to  make 
the  wind.  The  air  is  constantly  full 
of  air  currents,  like  the  currents  you 
can  see  in  a  river.  Down  the  middle 
of  the  river  you  may  notice  a  softly- 
flowing  current  going  straight.  Along 
the  shores  there  will  be  little  side  cur- 
rents going  in  all  directions,  and  you 
may  find  some  little  whirlpools.  That 
is  exactly  what  we  should  see  in  the 
air  if  we  could  see  air  currents. 

Where  Does  the  Wind  Begin? 

The  movement  of  these  currents  of 
air  leaves  many  i)ockets  of  space  where 
there  is  no  air,  and  when  one  of  these 
is  uncovered  the  air  rushes  in  and  cre- 
ates a  wind  in  doing  so.  These  air 
currents  are  continually  pressing 
against   each   other  to   get   some   place 


else.  They  change  their  direction  ac- 
cording to  the  pressure  that  is  being 
applied  to  them.  Sometimes  the  pres- 
sure will  be  very  light  in  one  part  of 
the  air,  many  miles  away  perhaps,  and 
then  the  air  in  another  part,  which  is 
under  great  pressure,  will  rush  with 
great  force  into  the  part  wdiere  the 
pressure  is  light,  and  thus  form  a  big 
wind.  When  the  pressure  stops  the 
wind  stops. 

We  have  probably  felt  the  wind 
which  comes  out  of  the  valve  of  the 
automobile  tire  when  the  cap  is  taken 
ofif  to  pump  up  the  tire.  It  is  a  real 
wind  that  comes  out.  The  reason  is 
that  the  air  in  the  tube  of  the  tire  is 
under  great  pressure,  and  when  the  op- 
portunity is  given  to  get  where  the 
pressure  is  light  it  starts  for  that  place 
with  a  rush  and  comes  out  of  the  valve 
a  real  wind. 

What  Causes  the  Wind's  Whistle  ? 

The  whistle  of  the  wind  is  caused 
very  much  like  the  whistle  you  make 
witii  your  mouth  or  the  noise  made  by 
the  steam  escaping  through  the  spout 
of  the  kettle.  You  do  not  hear  the 
wind  whistle  when  you  are  out  in  it. 
You  can  hear  it  when  you  are  in  the 
house  and  the  wind  is  blowing  hard. 
When  the  wind  blows  against  the  house 
it  tries  to  get  in  through  all  the  crevices, 
under  the  cracks  of  the  doors,  down 
the  chimneys,  wherever  it  finds  an 
opening.  And  whenever  it  starts 
through  an  opening  that  is  too  small  for 
it.  it  makes  a  noise  like  the  steam  com- 
ing out  of  the  si)out  of  the  kettle, 
provided  the  opening  is  of  a  certain 
shape. 

Not  all  the  noises  made  by  the  wind, 
however,  are  made  in  this  way.  The 
wind  in  blowing  against  things  makes 
them  vibrate  like  the  strings  of  a  piano 
or  violin,  and  when  things  vibrate,  as 
we  have  already  seen,  they  produce 
sound  waves,  which,  when  they  strike 
our  ears,  produce  sounds  of  various 
kinds.  The  wind  even  on  ordinary 
days  makes  the  telegraph  and  telephone 
wires  hum,  as  you  can  prove  to  yourself 
by  placing  your  car  against  a  telegraph 


140 


WHY   THE  AIR  NEVER  GETS  USED  UP 


or  telei)hone  pole,  ami  whenever  the 
wind  makes  anything  vibrate,  a  great 
many  queer  sounds  are  produced, 
whicli  often  frighten  us  more  than 
they    should. 

Why  Does  the  Air  Never  Get  Used  Up? 

Simply  because  it  is  constantly  being 
replenished.  The  three  gases,  oxygen, 
nitrogen  and  carbonic  acid  gas,  which 
are  found  in  the  air  about  us,  are  con- 
stantly being  used  up.  All  living  animal 
creatures  are  at  all  times  taking  oxygen 
out  of  the  air  to  live  on.  Certain  mi- 
crobes are  using  up  quantities  of  the 
nitrogen  all  the  time,  and  the  plants 
live  on  the  carbonic  acid  gas.  But  while 
these  different  kinds  of  life  between 
them  use  up  the  air,  they  give  back 
something  also.  The  plants  give  off 
oxygen.  The  bodies  of  the  animals 
and  plants  when  they  die  decompose, 
and  as  they  are  full  of  nitrogen,  that 
is  given  back  to  the  air  in  that  way, 
and  then  all  living  creatures  are  always 
throwing  off  carbonic  acid  gas  through 
their  lungs,  and  thus  everything  that 
is  taken  out  of  the  air  is  put  back 
again.  The  plants  live  on  carbonic  acid 
gas,  and  give  us  back  oxygen.  The 
living  creatures  live  on  oxygen  and 
give  off  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  when 
they  die  their  bodies  put  back  in  the 
air  the  nitrogen  which  the  microbes 
take  out,  and  so,  consumption  and  pro- 
duction are  about  equal  all  the  time. 

Why  Can't  We  See  Air? 

We  cannot  see  air  because  it  has  no 
color  and  is  perfectly  transparent.  If 
at  times  it  appears  that  there  is  color 
in  the  air  it  is  not  the  air  you  see,  but 
some  little  particles  of  various  sub- 
stances in  it.  Sometimes  you  think- 
when  you  look  off  toward  a  range  of 
mountains  or  hills,  for  instance,  that 
the  air  is  blue.  You  know  the  grass 
and  trees  on  the  mountains  are  green, 
so  it  cannot  be  they  that  have  turned 
blue,  and  so  you  think  the  air  is  blue. 
But  it  is  only  the  sunlight  reflected  to 
your  eyes  from  the  little  particles  of 
dirt  and  other  substances  which  fill  the 


air  at  all  times  which  makes  the  blue 
that  you  see,  and  not  the  air. 

Pure  air  is  a  mixture  of  gases  with- 
out any  color  and  is  perfectly  transpar- 
ent. Air  is  nearly  entirely  composed  of 
a  gas  called  nitrogen — the  remainder 
being  oxygen  with  a  little  water  and 
carbonic  acid  gas,  which  latter  is 
thrown  off  in  breathing.  This  is,  how- 
ever, but  a  very  small  percentage. 

Air  has  been  and  still  can  be  reduced 
to  a  licjuid  state,  and  with  the  use  of 
it  in  this  form  many  seemingly  wonder- 
ful things  can  be  done,  which  are  inter- 
esting to  look  at,  but  have  not  as  yet 
become  commercially  practical. 

Why  Does  Thunder  Always  Come  After 
the  Lightning? 

This  occurs  simply  because  lightning 
or  light  travels  so  much  more  quickly 
than  sound.  Light  travels  at  the  rate 
of  186,000  miles  per  second,  and  sound 
travels  only  at  the  rate  of  1090  feet 
])er  second  when  the  temperature  is  at 
32  degrees.  Now,  the  thunder  and  light- 
m"ng  come  at  the  same  time  and  ])lace 
in  the  air,  but  the  light  travels  so  much 
faster  that  you  see  the  lightning  often 
quite  some  seconds  before  you  hear 
the  thunder.  In  fact,  you  can  tell  quite 
accurately  how  far  away  from  you  the 
flash  of  lightning  and  clap  of  thunder 
are  by  taking  a  watch  and  noting  the 
number  of  seconds  which  elapse  be- 
tween the  flash  of  the  lightning  and 
the  time  when  you  hear  the  roll  of  the 
thunder.  If  as  much  as  five  seconds 
elapse  you  can  figure  that  it  was  about 
a  mile  away  from  you,  since  sound 
travels  only  about  iioo  feet  per  second 
and  there  are  5280  feet  in  a  mile.  When 
the  thunder  and  lightning  come  close 
together  you  may  know  that  it  is  near 
b} ,  and  when  they  come  at  the  same 
time  you  may  be  sure  it  is  very  close. 
\\'hen,  therefore,  you  see  the  lightning 
and  then  have  to  wait  several  seconds 
for  the  noise  of  the  thunder,  you  may 
rest  easy  about  the  lightning  hurting 
you,  because  you  know  then  it  is  too 
far  away  to  harm  you,  and  when  it  is 
so  close  that  the  lightning  and  thunder 
come    simullaneouslv,   there   is   no  use 


WHY  IT  IS  WARM  IN  SUMMER 


Ul 


being  afraid,  because  if  you  were  to  be 
struck  you  would  have  been  struck  at 
the  same  instant  or  before  you  would 
have  had  time  to  notice  that  the  light- 
ning and  thunder  come  together. 


How  Big  Is  the  Sun? 

It  is  very  difificult  to  gain  a  clear  idea 
of  how  very  large  the  sun  really  is. 
We  know  from  the  scientists  who  have 
m.easured  it  with  their  accurate  meas- 
uring instruments  that  it  is  865,000 
miles  through  it,  and  that  at  its  largest 
part  it  is  2,722,000  miles  around.  Now, 
you  can  see  why  I  said  it  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  get  a  clear  conception  of  the 
sun's  size.  A  mile  is  quite  a  long  dis- 
tance to  walk  on  a  hot  day.  Now,  the 
earth  is  8000  miles  through.  If  there 
were  a  tunnel  right  through  the  earth, 
like  the  subway,  and  ^ou  started  to 
walk  it,  it  would  take  you  83  1-3  days 
if  you  walked  day  and  night  without 
stopping  to  rest  or  eat,  if  you  kept 
going  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  every 
hour.  This  would  be  a  long,  hot  walk, 
for,  of  course,  the  inside  of  the  earth 
is  hot,  as  we  have  already  learned.  It 
would  take  an  automobile,  going  at  the 
rate  of  40  miles  an  hour  night  and  day, 
about  nine  days  to  make  the  trip 
through  such  a  subway  from  one  side 
of  the  earth  to  tiie  other.  That  makes 
it  look  like  a  pretty  big  old  earthy 
doesn't  it?  But  let  us  see  what  would 
happen  if  we  started  to  do  the  same 
thing  on  the  sun.  The  sun  is  865,000 
miles  through.  If  you  were  to  walk 
through  a  similar  tunnel  on  the  sun 
at  four  miles  per  hour  it  would  take 
you  20  years,  not  counting  the  stops, 
and  an  automobile  going  40  miles  an 
hour  day  and  night  would  take  two 
years  and  a  half  to  make  the  trip  one 
way. 

The  sun  is  ninety  million  miles  frf)in 
the  earth  and  an  automobile  travelling 
at  the  rate  of  forty  miles  j)er  hour  day 
and  night  on  a  straight  road,  without 
stoj)i)ing,  wcnild  be  257  years  in  get- 
ting there. 

When  we  stop  to  think  of  how  big 
the  bulk  of  the  sun  is  it  is  altogether 


beyond  us.  We  have  a  general  idea 
that  our  earth  is  a  pretty  large  affair  as 
worlds  go,  and  yet  we  cannot  conceive 
how  much  the  bulk  of  the  earth 
amounts  to.  Still,  the  sun  is  so  large 
that  it  could  contain  a  million  worlds 
like  our  own. 

How  Hot  Is  the  Sun? 

We  think  the  sun  is  pretty  hot  in 
summer  when  the  thermometer  goes  up 
to  90  degrees  in  the  shade  or  out.  We 
begin  to  get  sunburned  long  before  it 
reaches  that  high.  But  right  on  the 
stm's  surface  it  is  between  10,000  and 
15,000  degrees  hot.  That  is,  of  course, 
a  degree  of  heat  w^hich  we  cannot  con- 
ceive. How  much  hotter  still  it  is  on 
the  inside  of  the  sun  w^e  don't  as  yet 
know.    It  must  be  awfully  hot  there. 

Why  Is  It  Warm  in  Summer? 

It  is  warm  in  summer  because  at 
that  season  of  the  year  the  heat  rays 
of  the  sun  strike  our  part  of  the  earth 
through  less  air.  The  blanket  of  air 
which  surrounds  the  earth  is  very  much 
in  comparison  as  to  thickness  like  the 
peeling  of  an  orange  and  surrounds  the 
earth  in  just  the  same  way.  If  you  stick 
a  pin  straight  into  an  imi)eeled  orange 
you  only  have  to  stick  it  in  a  little  way 
before  you  reach  the  juicy  part  of  the 
orange,  but  if  you  stick  the  pin  in  at 
an  angle  the  pin  will  travel  a  much 
longer  ways  through  pure  peeling  be- 
fore it  strikes  the  juicy  part.  Now, 
then,  in  summer  the  rays  of  the  sun 
come  down  to  us  straight  through  the 
peeling  of  air,  and  less  of  the  heat  is 
lost  by  contact  with  the  air,  and  that 
makes  it  warmer  in  summer.  The  ex- 
planation also  accounts  for  your  next 
question. 

Why  Is  It  Cold  in  Winter? 

In  winter  the  heat  rays  of  the  sun 
slriUe  at  f)ur  ])art  of  the  earth  at  the 
angle  at  which  you  stick  the  pin  into 
the  orange  when  you  wish  to  make  it 
travel   through   the   most   peeling.      In 


142 


WHY  WE  HAVE  FINGER  NAILS 


winter  the  rays  strike  the  earth  at  sueli 
an  angle  that  a  <jreat  deal  of  the  heat 
is  lost  in  travelling  through  the  air, 
because  they  have  to  come  through  so 
much  more  of  the  air.  Of  course,  the 
sun's  rays  strike  some  part  of  the  earth 
straight  down  through  the  peeling  of 
air  at  all  times,  and  at  the  equator  this 
occurs  all  the  year  round,  so  it  is 
always  summer  there,  while  at  the 
North  and  South  Poles  the  rays  always 
strike  the  earth  at  the  greatest  possible 
angle,  and  it  is  always  very  cold  winter 
there.  In  between,  when  it  is  neither 
hot  nor  cold,  we  have  spring  and  fall, 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  rays  come  down 
at  an  angle,  but  not  so  great  an  angle. 

Why  Have  We  Five  Fingers  on  Each 
Hand  and  Five  Toes  on  Each  Foot? 
All  animals,  it  seems,  from  a  study 
of  nature  were  started  with  ten  fingers 
and  ten  toes,  the  fingers  originally  hav- 
mg  been  the  toes  of  the  fore  legs.  In 
a  good  many  cases  the  environment  in 
which  animals  have  lived  has  caused 
a  change  in  the  formation  of  the  ends 
of  the  limbs  as  well  as  in  the  limbs 
themselves.  The  horse,  for  instance, 
has  developed  into  a  one  toe  or  one 
finger  animal,  wdiile  a  cow  is  a  two 
fi.nger  animal.  The  hen  has  only  three 
toes  on  each  foot  and  a  part  of  another. 
But  if  we  go  back  into  the  history  and 
examine  how  the  horses'  foot  used  to 
look  we  will  find  that  he  originally  had 
five  toes.  The  same  is  true  of  the  cow 
and  also  the  hen.  Something  happened 
to  cause  the  change,  for  the  rule  of 
five  fingers  and  five  toes  on  the  end  of 
each  limb  has  been  universal.  If  you 
examine  a  chicken  in  a  shell  just  before 
it  is  ready  to  come  out,  you  can  dis- 
tinctly count  five  toes  on  each  foot  and 
at  the  ends  of  the  wings  you  will  see 
five  little  points,  which  under  other 
conditions  would  develop  into  fingers, 
perhaps.  Some  of  these  toes  of  the 
new-born  chicken  do  not  develop.  It 
can  be  accepted  as  a  rule  that  creatures 
were  intended  in  the  original  plan  to 
have  five  fingers  on  each  hand  and  five 
toes  on  each  foot,  making  our  count 
of  tens,  which  is  the  world's  basis  for 
counting,  and  has  always  been. 


Why  Do  We  Have  Finger  Nails? 

P^inger  nails  and  toe  nails  are  only 
another  phase  of  the  development  of 
man  from  the  animal  that  originally 
walked  on  four  feet.  Animals  that 
walk  on  all  fours  use  the  finger  and  toe 
coverings  which  in  man  is  the  nail,  to 
scratch  in  the  ground,  to  attack  enemies, 
and  to  climb  with,  and  our  nails  of  the 
present  day  are  what  the  development 
of  man  into  a  civilized  being  has 
changed  them  to.  At  that,  there  are 
still  uses  for  finger  nails  and  toe  nails, 
or  man  in  his  clianging  to  a  higher 
plane  would  have  found  a  way  to  de- 
veloj)  away  from  them.  They  are  use- 
ful to-day  in  making  our  fingers  and 
toes  firm  at  the  end,  and  enable  us  to 
pick  up  things  more  easily.  The  time 
may  come  when  man  will  have  neither 
finger  nails  nor  toe  nails. 

Why    Are    Our    Fingers    of    Different 
Lengths  ? 

There  is  no  known  reason  why  our 
fingers  should  be  of  different  lengths 
to-day;  in  fact,  it  is  thought  by  some 
people  that  the  hand  would  be  stronger 
if  the  fingers  were  all  of  the  same 
length.  Certainly,  however,  the  hands 
would  not  then  be  so  beautiful,  and  it 
might  not  be  so  useful.  The  human 
hand  to-day  is  perhaps  the  most  versa- 
tile thing  in  the  world.  You  can  do 
more  things  with  the  hand  than  with 
any  other  thing  in  the  world.  The 
probability  is  that  the  shape  of  the  hand 
to-day  and  the  length  of  the  fingers 
are  the  result  of  the  different  things  the 
human  being  has  called  upon  the  hand 
to  do  during  man's  development  up  to 
the  present  time. 

We  must  go  back  to  the  time,  how- 
ever, when  man  walked  on  fours,  for 
that  is  probably  the  real  explanation. 
Originally  man's  fingers  were  of  differ- 
ent lengths  because  all  four-footed  ani- 
mals had  the  same  peculiarities.  The 
shape  and  length  of  the  toes  and  their 
arrangement  were  the  ideal  arrange- 
ment for  giving  the  proper  balance  and 
support  to  the  body,  and  in  moving 
about  and  in  climbing  produced  the  best 
toe  hold. 


WHY  WE  HAVE   HAIR 


143 


Why  Does  It   Hurt  When   I   Cut   My 
Finger  ? 

It  hurts  when  you  cut  your  finger, 
or,  rather,  where  you  cut  it,  because  the 
place  you  have  cut  is  exposed  to  the 
oxygen  in  the  air,  and  as  soon  as  it  is 
so  exposed  a  chemical  action  begins 
to  take  place,  just  as  when  you  cut  an 
apple  and  lay  it  aside  you  come  back 
and  find  the  cut  surface  all  turned 
brown.  If  the  apple  could  feel  it  would 
hurt  also,  because  the  chemical  action 
is  much  the  same.  The  apple  has  a  skin 
which  protects  its  inside  from  the  oxy- 
gen in  the  air,  and  you  have  also  a  skin 
which  protects  you  from  the  oxygen 
as  long  as  it  is  unbroken. 

What  happens,  of  course,  is  this : 
When  you  cut  your  finger  you  sever 
the  tiny  little  veins  and  nerves  which 
are  in  your  finger.  They  are  spread 
all  over  your  body  like  a  net-work 
under  the  skin,  close  to  the  surface  in 
most  places.  The  nerves  when  cut  send 
a  quick  message  to  the  brain,  with 
which  they  are  connected,  telling  that 
they  are  damaged,  and  the  brain  calls 
on  the  heart  and  other  functions  to  get 
busy  and  repair  the  damage  along  the 
line.  There  may  be  some  hurt  while 
this  process  of  repairing  is  going  on,  but 
the  principal  part  of  your  hurt,  outside 
of  what  we  call  your  feelings,  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  the  inside  of  you  is  thus 
exposed  to  the  chemical  action  of  the 
air.     Then  I  can  hear  you  say  next: 

Why  Don't  My  Hair  Hurt  When  It  Is 
Being  Cut? 

It  does  not  hurt  to  cut  anything  that 
has  no  nerves.  There  are  no  nerves 
in  the  hair  which  the  barber  cuts.  If 
he  pulls  out  a  hair  it  hurts,  because  the 
root  of  the  hair  has  nerves,  which  tele- 
graph notice  of  the  damage  to  the 
brain.  When  a  dentist  takes  out  or 
kills  the  nerve  in  your  tooth  you  cannot 
have  any  more  toothache  in  that  tooth, 
l;(causc  there  is  no  nerve  there  to  send 
the  message  to  the  brain.  You  can  cut 
your  finger  nails  without  feeling  ])ain, 
because  they  have  no  nerves  at  the  ends, 
but  underneath,  where  they  join  the 
skin   of   the   finger,  there  are  a   great 


many  nerves,  and  it  hurts  very  much 
to  bruise  the  nails  at  that  location. 


Of  What  Use  Is  My  Hair? 

Your  hair  is  a  relic  of  the  days  when 
the  entire  body  was  covered  with  hair, 
just  like  some  animals  to-day,  to  pro- 
tect the  body  from  the  heat,  cold  and 
wet.  Man  has,  however,  for  so  long 
a  time  worn  clothes  over  most  of  his 
body  that  the  need  of  the  hair  to  pro- 
tect him  from  these  elements  has  all 
but  disappeared,  and  so  also  has  the 
hair,  excepting  in  such  places  as  the 
top  of  the  head  and  face  and  other  ex- 
posed parts.  If  you  were  to  go  out 
into  the  woods  without  clothes  and  live 
a  long  time  your  body  would  probably 
again  become  covered  with  hairs.  The 
time  is  coming,  however,  it  is  believed, 
when  human  beings  will  have  no  hair  at 
all  on  their  bodies.  You  have  hair  on 
your  head,  but  if  you  were  to  wear  a 
hat  or  cap  all  the  time  you  would  soon 
be  bald.  Hair  is  of  no  use  to  us  to-day 
excepting  to  adorn  our  bodies  and  add 
to  our  appearance.  This  it  seems  to  do 
to-day,  probably  because  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  seeing  it,  and  will  make  no 
difference  in  our  looks  relatively  if  the 
time  comes  when  we  have  no  hair  at  all. 

Why  Does  My  Hair  Stand  On  End  When 

I  Am  Frightened? 

It  docs  this  under  certain  conditions, 
because  there  is  a  little  muscle  down  at 
the  root  of  each  hair  that  will  make 
each  hair  stand  up  straigiit  when  this 
muscle  pulls  a  certain  way.  It  is  dif- 
ficult to  say  just  how  these  muscles 
are  caused  to  act  in  this  way  when  we 
are  frightened.  We  know  that  when 
thoroughly  frightened  our  hair  will 
sometimes  stand  stra-ight  up,  and  we 
know  that  it  is  this  muscle  at  the  root 
of  each  hair  that  makes  it  possible,  but 
why  it  is  that  a  big  scare  will  make 
this  muscle  act  this  way  wc  do  not  as 
yet  know. 

What  Makes  Some  People  Bald? 

The  chief  cause  of  baldness  is  tho 
lack  of  care  of  the  hair.    Tt  is  as  ncces- 


144 


WHY   SOME  PEOPLE   ARE  BALD 


sary  for  the  roots  of  the  hair  to  have 
a  free  cireulation  of  the  blood  and  that 
the  hair  itself  should  have  plenty  of  air 
as  it  is  necessary  for  the  brain  to  have 
a  good  circulation.  A  great  many  men 
become  bald  through  wearing  their  hats 
most  of  the  time.  The  hat  pulled  down 
tight  over  the  head  presses  against  the 
scalp  and  interferes  with  the  circulation 
of  the  blood  in  the  scalp.  Then,  also, 
many  hats  do  not  have  any  means  of 
ventilation,  and  that  keeps  the  pure 
air  away  from  the  hair.  The  hair  then 
becomes  sick  and  dies,  just  as  flowers 
wilt  if  you  keej)  them  away  from  the 
air.  ^'ou  will  notice  that  women  do  not 
become  bald  so  easily.  One  reason  is 
that  ev.en  when  the  women  wear  large 
hats,  as  they  often  do,  there  is  plenty  of 
room  for  the  air  to  circulate  through 
the  hair,  even  when  the  hat  is  on,  and 
women's  hats  are  not  pulled  down 
tightly  on  the  scalp.  Therefore,  they 
do  not  press  on  the  arteries  and  veins 
in  the  scalp  and  interfere  with  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood.  Another  reason 
why  Avomen  do  not  become  bald  is  that 
the  hair  of  women  has  long  been  their 
"crowning  glory" :  a  man  likes  to  see 
a  fine  head  of  hair  on  a  Avoman.  and  as 
women  have  long  tried  to  please  men 
in  every  possible  way,  they  take  better 
care  of  their  hair  than  men  do,  because 
they  like  to  have  the  men  consider  it 
beautiful. 


What  Makes  Some  Things  in  the  Same 
Room  Colder  than  Others? 

The  objects  in  a  room  wdiich  has 
been  kept  at  a  given  even  temperature 
of  heat  will  be  all  the  same  tempera- 
ture, because  heat  spreads  from  one 
thing  to  another  equally. 

Still,  if  you  put  your  hands  on  va- 
rious objects  in  such  a  room  some  of 
them  will  feel  colder  than  others.  You 
touch  the  tiling  of  the  fireplace  and 
that  will  feel  cool  to  you.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  upholstered  furniture  will 
feel  quite  warm.  The  piano  keys  feel 
cool,  while  the  wood  of  the  piano  and 
case  is  warm.     The  difference  is  due 


to  the  fact  that  heat  or  cold  will  rim 
through  some  objects  more  (juickly  than 
through  others.  It  will  run  through 
the  tiling  on  the  hearth  and  the  piano 
keys  more  fjuickly  than  through  the  up- 
holstering on  the  furniture  or  the  wood 
of  the  i)iano  case.  \Mien  you  touch 
a  thing  with  your  finger  you  sup])ly 
some  of  the  heat  of  your  body  to  the 
object  through  your  finger.  If  the  ob- 
ject is  the  tiling  on  the  hearth  or  the 
keys  of  the  piano  the  heat  runs  through 
it  quickly  and  you  get  a  cold  impression 
in  your  finger.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
you  touch  the  upholstery  on  the  fur- 
niture, through  which  the  heat  runs 
slowdy,  you  get  a  warm  feeling  for  the 
very  same  reason.  Thus,  anything 
which  carries  the  heat  away  from  our 
contact  quickly  we  call  a  cold  feeling 
object,  and  if  the  object  touched  does 
not  carry  the  heat  away  so  quickly  we 
call  it  a  warm  feeling  object. 


Why   Does   the   Hair   Grow   After   the 
Body   Stops    Growing? 

The  hair  on  our  bodies  is  one  of  the 
things  that  is  continually  wearing  or 
falling  away,  and  since,  like  the  skin, 
it  is  necessary  to  protect  certain  por- 
tions of  the  body,  the  hair  keeps  on 
growing  long  after  the  grown  up  period 
has  arrived.  The  skin  is  a  very  neces- 
sary protection  of  the  whole  body,  but 
is  constantly  being  worn  away,  and  is 
all  the  time  being  replaced.  Your  hair 
falls  out  when  it  is  not  healthy.  Unless 
proper  care  is  given  to  it,  it  will  fall 
out  and  not  grow  in  again,  and  then 
we  become  bald. 


Will  People  All  Be  Bald  Sometime? 

There  is  a  theory  that  before  many 
years  have  passed  human  beings  will 
lose  all  of  the  hairs  which  now  grow 
on  dififerent  parts  of  their  bodies,  due 
to  the  fact  that  we  w-ear  so  much  cloth- 
ing and  keep  so  much  of  our  bodies 
away  from  the  sunlight.  If  that  time 
comes  we  shall  have  a  hairless  race  of 
men  and  women. 


THE   STORY   IN  A   LUMP  OF  SUGAR 


145 


PREPARING   THE   GROUND.— PLOWING   AND   HARROWIXG   WITH.   A  CATERPILLAR   ENGINE. 

Sugar  beets  require  deep  plowing,  ten  to  fourteen  inches,  or  twice  the  usual  depth. 
When  using  horses,  farmers  are  inclined  not  to  plow  deeply  enough  to  secure  maximum 
results,  and  some  of  the  factories  have  put  in  power  plows  which  turn  six  furrows  and 
harrow  the  land  at  the  same  time.  They  plow  and  harrow  the  land  of  beet  farmers  for 
$2.50  per  acre,  which  is  about  one-half  of  what  it  costs  the  farmers  to  plow  equally  deep 
with  horses.  The  traction  engines  also  are  used  for  hauling  train  wagon  loads  of  beets 
to  the  factorj'.  In  some  localities  farmers  are  banding  together  and  purchasing  engines 
for  plowing  and  hauling  beets.     The  outfit  illustrated  above  costs  about  $4,500. 


DKIM.l.NG    THK    SKKO. 


Beets  are  drilled  in  rows,  usually  eighteen  inches  apart.  18  to  25  pounds  of  seed  being 
drilled  to  each  acre.  Practically  all  the  beet  seed  used  in  America  is  grown  in  Kuroi)o, 
principally  in  Gcrnuny,  but  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  sui)erior  seed  can  be  pr(){lucc(l 
in  the  Lnited  States.  Sugar-beet  seed  growing  requires  five  years  of  the  utmost  skill, 
care  and  patience,  from  tlie  jjlanting  of  the  original  seed  to  the  maturing  of  the  com- 
mercial crop  which  is  sold  to  the  trade.  The  factories  contract  for  their  seed  for  three 
to  five  years  in  advance,  sell  it  to  farmers  at  cost  price,  and  deduct  the  amount  from  liie 
payment   for  beets. 


146 


HOW  THE  BEETS  ARE  GROWN 


mXK  l\  INC.    AMI     1  H  I  -N  .N  i  -N  U. 

\\'licn  the  beets  are  up  and  show  the  third  leaf  they  should  be  "thinned."  Unless 
thinned  at  the  proper  time  the  pulling  up  of  the  superfluous  beetlets  injures  the  roots  of 
the  remaining  ones.  Scientific  experiments  in  Germany,  where  all  other  conditions  were 
identical,  showed  that  one  acre  thinned  at  the  proper  time  yielded  15  tons;  the  next  acre, 
thinned  a  week  later,  yielded  13V4  tons;  the  third  acre,  thinned  still  a  week  later,  yielded 
loji  tons;  and  the  fourth  acre,  thinned  three  weeks  after  the  first,  yielded  7K'  tons. 

The  men  in  the  foreground  are  "blocking"'  the  beets,  leaving  a  bunch  of  them 
every  eight  inches.  Those  in  the  rear  are  "thinning,"  or  pulling  up  the  superfluous  beetlets, 
leavmg  one  in  a  place,  eight  inches  apart. 


j 

iW^^Q 

I^BMUf  flj  ( 'wf^if^  WLiSf  i#!y 

READY   FOR  THE   HAR\'EST. 

This  field  of  beets  yielded  20  tons  to  the  acre.  Ex-Secretary  of  Agriculture  James 
Wilson  is  convinced  that  when  American  farmers  become  expert  in  beet  culture  they  will 
average  to  produce  more  than  20  tons  per  acre  because  of  the  superiority  of  our  soils. 
The  ideal  factory  beet  weighs  about  two  pounds,  and  a  perfect  "stand"  of  such  beets, 
one  every  eight  inches,  in  rows  eighteen  inches  apart,  would  yield  4314  tons  per  acre. 
The  present  average  yield  in  the  United  States  is  about  10  tons  per  acre,  while  the  hitherto 
"worn-out"  soils"  of  Germany  yield  14  tons  per  acre,  or  40%  more  than  is  secured  from 
our  "virgin  soils." 


' 

M^^                 *  ■***''''^M'^"^  _              ■•  j^  ? 

^^Ife^l^B^^^^^'' - 

ii--*- *^y^,  Ij 

1 

BrSBX-i^flK.-  CV.^^^^^^^L  JT 

\ 

ymt^ 

TOPPING    THE    BEETS. 

After  thebeets  are  plowed  out  they  are  topped  or  cut  off  by  hand  and  the  tops  arc 
fed  to  stock,  for  which  purpose  they  are  worth  $3.00  per  acre.  They  are  topped  just  below 
the  crown  and  the  factories  require  that  they  be  so  topped  as  to  remove  any  portion 
which  grew  above  the  ground,  as  such  portion  of  the  beet  contains  but  a  small  percentage 
of  sugar.  The  beet  will  grow  in  length,  and,  if  as  a  result  of  shallow  plowing  or  coming 
in  contact  with  a  rock  it  cannot  grow  downward,  it  will  grow  upward  and  out  of  the 
ground,  thus  necessitating  a  deeper  topping  and  consequent  loss  to  the  farmer. 


iji.  ;.i i'i..(;  CAus  AT 


il;  ■      v',  n  11     11  .  IJICAII.H.      I  ACK. 


Beets  arriving  at  the  factory  by  rail  from  receiving  stations  either  are  stored  in  bin.»  until  ni-cded 
or  are  floated  directly  to  the  beet  washers.  If  to  be  used  at  once,  ihcy  arc  dumped,  as  shown  al)ove, 
and  slide  directly  into  a  cement  flimic  filled  with  warm  water,  which  has  been  pumped  to  its  upper 
end,  and  is  flowing  in  the  rlirection  of  the  beet  end  of  the  factory.  In  whatever  manner  they  may  be 
received,  they  first  arc  wciRlicrl,  and  as  they  are  dumped,  a  basket  is  held  under  tliem  lo  caleh  a  fair 
sample  of  both  beets  and  the  loose  dirt,  which  the  car  or  wagon  contains.  These  samples,  jiroperly 
tagKi-'l,  arc  conveyed  to  the  beet  laboratory,  where  they  arc  washed,  and  trimmed  if  not  properly 
tojiped,  anrl  the  difference  in  the  weight  of  the  sample  beets  as  received  and  their  weight  when  washed 
is  called  the  "tare."  Whatever  perrentage  this  amounts  to  is  applied  to  and  deducted  from  the  weight 
of  the  car  or  wagon  load.  A  sample  of  these  beets  then  is  tested  by  the  polariscope  for  its  sugar 
content  and  its  purity;  farmers  often  being  paid  a  stipulated  price  per  Ion  for  a  beet  of  a  given  sugar 
content  and  2S  to  .^3  i-.^  cents  per  ton  additional  for  each  extr;i  degree  of  sugar  which  they  contain. 
The  tare  rooms  and  the  beet-testing  laboratories  are  open  to  any  one,  and  in  some  localities  the  farmers' 
associations   employ    experts   lo    tare   and    analyze    each   sample    of'bccts. 


148 


A\ILLIONS   OF   BUSHELS  OF   BEETS 


.r«^tfbB-l-*r^'>' 

r 

iBb                 ,^,^, ,,::«,. 

FACTORY  BEET  BINS  FILLED  TO  CAPACITY. 

As  they  arrive  by  rail  from  receiving  stations,  or  by  team,  or  traction  engines  from  the  farm, 
beets  are  stored  in  bins  or  sheds,  the  capacity  of  which  ranges  from  6000  to  35,000  tons  per  factory, 
depending   upon    location    and    general    climatic    conditions. 

The  bins  are  V  shaped,  about  3  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  20  to  30  feet  at  the  top,  and  they  are 
20  to  30  teet  high.  As  beets  are  needed,  beginning  at  one  end  of  the  bin  the  loose  three-foot  planks 
at  the  bottom  are  removed  one  at  a  time,  and  with  hooks  attached  to  long  poles  the  beets  are  rolled 
into  the  fiume  or  cement  channel  below,  in  which  they  are  floated  into  the  factory.  This  is  not  only 
to  save  labor,  but  to  loosen  up  the  dirt  which  attaches  to  the  beets,  thus  partially  washing  them.  The 
water   which    is  used    in    the    flumes   is   warm    water    from   the    factorv. 


TYPICAL    AM  ERIC  AX    BEET    SUG.\R    FACTORY. 


These  factories  cost  from  half  a  million  to  three  million  dollars.  They  consume 
from  500  to  3,000  tons  of  beets  per  day,  and  during  the  "campaign,"  which  usually  lasts 
about  three  months,  will  produce  from  12  to  75  million  pounds  of  granulated  sugar.  There 
are  73  of  these  factories,  located  in  16  States,  from  Ohio  to  California.  Buring  the 
operating  season  they  give  employment  to  from  400  to  1000  men  each. 


WASHING   THE  SUGAR  BEETS 


149 


CHEMICAL  LABORATORY. 


In 
termed 


beet-sugar    factory   each    set   of    apparatus    for   performing   a    given   process    is 
"station."     In  the  chemical  laboratory  the  juices  and  products  from  each  station 

are  tested  hourly  to  check  up  the  correctness  of  the  work  and  to  determine  the  losses  of 

sugar  in  each  process  in  the  factory. 


After  beiriK  floaterl  in  from  the  sheds  the  Itccts  are  elcv.iteil  from  the  tlimu'  t.i  a  wasltcT,  where 
they  are  given  an  afWitional  washing  before  being  sliced.  From  the  washer  they  are  elevaft'd  and 
dropped  into  an  automatic  scale  of  a  capacity  of  700  to  1500  pounds.  From  the  scale  they  pass  to  the 
Blicers,  where  with  triangular  knives  they  are  cut  into  long,  slender  slices,  which  look  something  like 
"shoestring"  potatoes.  '1  hesc  slices  drop  through  the  upright  chute  seen  at  tlic  right  si<lc  of  the  picture, 
and  are  packetl  tightly  into  cylinrlrical  vessels  holrling  from  two  to  six  tons  each;  the  battery  consisting 
of  eight  to  twelve  vessels  arranged  either  in  a  straight  line  or  in  circular  fjrin.  Warm  water  is  run  into 
these    slices,    and    coaxes    out    the    sugar    as    it    passes    from    one    vessel    to    the    succeeding    ones.       After 

Fassing  through  the  entire  series  of  vessels  the  water  has  become  rich  in  sugar,  of  wliieh  it  contains 
rom  12  to  15  per  cent,  dejjending  upon  the  richness  of  the  beets.  It  then  is  drawn  off  and  is  railed 
diffusion  juice  or  raw  juice.  This  is  carefully  measured  into  taij<s  mnl  reconled.  As  this  juice  is 
drav.  11  off  the  vessel  over  which  the  water  started  is  enij)tiecl  of  the  slices  from  the  bottom,  the  exhaust 
slices  containing  in  the  neighborhood  of  %  to  i-,^  ner  cent  of  sugar.  These  slices  arc  carried  out 
from   the   factory   in   the   form  of   pulp  and   fed   to   stock,   as  cxplaincil   later. 


150 


HOW  THE  SUGAR  IS  TAKEN  FROM  THE  BEET 


CAKliOXATATION    AND   SULPHUR   STATION. 

Warm  raw  juice  is  drawn  into  the  carbonatation  tanks  and  treated  with  about  lo  per  cent  milk  of 
lime — about  like  ordinary  whitewash.  This  lime  throws  out  impurities,  sterilizes  the  juice  and  removes 
coloring  matter.  Carbonic  acid  gas  from  the  lime  kiln  is  forced  through  the  lime  juice  in  the  tank, 
throwing  out  the  excess  of  lime,  converting  it  into  a  carbonate  of  lime  or  chalk.  Tests  are  taken  here 
by    the    station    operator    to    show   when    the    process    is    finished. 


FILTER   PRESSES. 

From  the  carbonatation  tanks  the  juice  is  pumped  or  forced  throuph  filter  presses 
consisting  of  iron  frames  so  covered  with  cloth  that  the  juice  passes  through  the_  cloth 
as  a  clear  lifjuid.  leaving  the  lime  and  impurities  precipitated  by  it,  in  the  frame,  in  the 
form  of  a  cake  This  cake,  after  washing,  is  dropped  from  the  presses  and  convefyed 
out  of  the  factor^-.  Tt  contains  from  one  to  two  per  cent  of  its  weight  in  sugar,  which 
constitutes  one  of' the  large  losses  of  the  process.  It  also  contains  organic  matter,  phosphate 
and  potash,  besides  the  carbonate  of  lime,  which  makes  it  an  excellent  fertilizer,  all  orf 
which  is  used  in  Europe  on  the  farm,  but  so  far  to  too  small  an  extent  in  America. 


EVAPORATORS. 

After  a  second,  and  sometimes  a  third  carbonatation  and  filtration,  the  juice  is  carried 
to  the  evaporators,  commonly  called  the  "effects,"  usually  four  (4)  large  air-tight  vessels 
furnished  with  healing  tubes  running  from  3000  to  7000  square  feet  in  each  vessel.  A 
partial  vacuum  is  maintained  in  these  evaporators  which  makes  the  juice  boil  out  at  a  low 
temperature,  thus  preventing  discoloration,  and  to  a  large  degree  the  destruction  of  sugar 
which  will  come  about  by  high  temperature.  There  always  is,  however,  some  unavoidable 
loss  of  sugar  in  this  apparatus.  The  juice  passes  along  copper  pipes  from  first  to  last  vessel, 
becoming  thicker  as  it  does  so.  It  comes  into  the  first  vessel  at  10%  to  12%  sugar  and 
is  pumped  out  of  the  last  one  so  thick  that  it  contains  about  50%  of  sugar. 


VArt'T'M    PANS. 

After  a  careful  filtration,  the  juice  that  comes  from  the  evaporators,  and  is  callcel  thick  iuice,  is 
pumpcfj  to  large  tanks  high  up  in  the  building,  and  from  these  is  drawn  into  vacuum  pans.  These  are 
larj?e  cylindrical  vessels  from  lo  to  is  feet  in  diameter  and  from  15  to  ^5  feet  hiffh,  witli  conical  top 
and  bottom,  built  air-tiRht.  Around  the  inner  circumference  tlicv  are  furnished  with  .i-  In  6-inch  copper 
coils,  which  have  a  hcatiiiK  surface  of  Koo  to  jooo  square  feet.  Kxhaust  steam  is  used  in  tlie  evamiralors, 
live  steam  in  the  pans,  the  juice  in  both  being  boiled  in  a  vacuum  to  prevent  discoloration  and  reduce 
losses.  .  . 

After  considerable  thickening  by  this  evaporation,  minute  crystals  begin  to  form.  When  suflicicnt 
of  these  have  formed,  fresh  juice  is  drawn  in  and  llie  crystals  grow,  the  operator  governing  the  size  of 
the  crystals  tf)  suit  the  trade.  If  small  crystals  be  desired',  a  large  rjuaiitity  of  juice  is  adniilted  ;it  the 
outset,  while  if  large  crystals  are  desired,  a  small  f|uantity  of  juice  first  is  adniiKed,  and.  as  it  boils  to 
crystals,  fresh  Juice  gradually  is  added  to  the  p.in,  and  the  crystals  :ire  built  up  to  the  desired  size. 
The  f)perator  of  this  jian,  known  as  tin-  "sugar  liniler,"  is  one  of  the  most  iniporl.int  men  in  the  factory. 
The  water  furnisherl  the  condensers  of  these  vacuum  jians  and'  the  evaporalor  goes  to  the  beet  sheds 
and  is  used  for  floating  in  the  beets.  It  amounts  to  from  3,000,000  to  8,000,000  gallons  every  .•4  hours, 
d<.,:=ndi!ig   upon   the   size  of  the   factory,   and   must   be   very   pure. 


152 


HOW  SUGAR   IS   GRANULATED 


KKO.NT   VIKW   OF   CKVTKIFUGAL    MACHINl  ^ 

The  mass  of  crystals  with  syrup  around  them  and  containing  about  8  per  cent  to  lo  per  cent  of 
water  is  let  out  of  the  vacuum  pan  into  a  large  open  vessel  called  a  mixer,  beneath  which  are  the 
centrifugal  machines.  These  are  suspended  brass  drums  perforated  with  holes  and  lined  with  a  fine 
screen.  They  are  made  to  revolve  about  :ooo  times  to  a  minute,  and  the  crystal  mass  of  sugar  rises 
up  the  side  like  water  in  a  whirling  bucket.  The  centrifugals  force  the  syrup  out  through  the  screen 
holes,  leaving  the  white  crystals  of  sugar  in  a  thick  layer  on  the  inner  siirface.  These  are  washed  with 
a  spray  of  pure  warm  water  and  then  are   ready   for  the  dryer. 


The  damp  white  crystals  from  the  centrifugal  machine  are  conveyed  to  horizontal 
revolving  drums  about  2^  feet  long  by  5  to  6  feet  in  diameter.  These  drums  are  furnished 
with  paddles  on  the  mside  circumference,  the  paddles  picking  the  sugar  up  and  dropping 
it  in  showers  as  the  drum  revolves.  Warm  dry  air  is  drawn  through  and  takes  the  moisture 
out  of  the  sugar,  which  now  is  ready  to  be  put  in  bags  or  barrels  for  the  market. 


BY=PRODUCTS  OF  THE   SUGAR  BEET 


153 


CRYSTALLIZERS. 

The  sjrup  that  was  thrown  off  from  the  crystals  in  the  centrifugal  machines  is  taken 
back  to  the  vacuum  pan,  evaporated  in  the  same  manner  as  previously  described,  and 
from  the  vacuum  pan  goes  into  the  crystallizers  to  carry  the  process  of  crystallization 
as  far  as  it  will  go.  These  contain  from  looo  to  1600  cubic  feet  of  the  crystallized  mass 
which  remains  in  them  from  s^^  to  72  hours,  during  which  time  it  is  kept  in  constant 
motion  by  a  set  of  slowly  revolving  paddles,  or  arms,  to  facilitate  further  crystallization. 
From  the  crystallizers  it  goes  to  the  centrifugal  machines,  where  the  syrup  is  separated 
from  the  crystals  a^  before.  The  crystals  are  remelted  and  go  in  with  the  thick  juice 
for  white  sugar.  The  syrup,  still  containing  a  large  amount  of  sugar,  goes  out  to  be  sold 
as  cattle  feed  or  to  an  Osmose  or  Steffens  process,  where  a  portion  of  the  remaining  sugar 
may  be  recovered.  This  lost  syrup  constitutes  the  largest  loss  in  the  entire  process.  It 
contains  all  the  impurities  of  the  beet  juice  not  removed  by  the  lime.  These  impurities 
prevent  more  than  one  and  one-half  times  their  weight  of  sugar  from  crystalizing,  and 
make  what  is  called  molasses. 


A    SEA    OK    HKET    I'UI.P. 

For  a  century  llic  high  feeding  value  of  siiKarhcct  pulp  has  hcen  recognized  in  Europe,  hut  until 
a  few  years  ago  millions  of  tons  of  this  valualilc  hy-product  rolled  about  American  hcet-sugar  factories, 
as  shown  ahovc,  hccauhe  American  farmers  could  not  lie  made  lo  lielieve  it  possessed  stifTicienl  value 
to   pay   for   hauling  it  hack   to   the   farm. 


154  MACHINE  THAT  FILLS,  WEIGHS  AND  SEWS  THE  BAGS  OF  SUGAR 


sACKI.NG    KUU.M. — SHOWIXG    AUTOMATIC    SCALF.S    AM)    SEWING    M ACIIINi:. 


After  the  moisture  has  been  thoroughly  removed  in  the  pranulators  or  dryers,  the 
sugar  drops  directly  to  the  sacking  room  through  a  chute,  at  the  lower  end  of  which  the 
top  of  the  double  bag  is  attached.  The  sugar  Hows  directly  into  the  sack,  the  flow  being 
cut  off  automatically  with  each  lOO  pounds,  when  an  endless  belt  conveyor  passes  the  upright 
sack  past  the  sew^ing  machine  at  the  proper  speed  and  the  product  is  sealed  ready  for 
storage  or  shipment. 

While  it  requires  from  400  to  1000  men  to  man  a  factory,  not  a  human  hand  has  touched 
either  beets  or  product  since  the  beets  were  topped  in  the  field,  and  at  no  stage  of  the 
operation  could  flies  or  vermin  or  filth  come  in  contact  with  the  product,  which  from  the 
beginning  has  been  subjected  to  continuous  high  temperatures. 

Pictures  herewith  by  courtesy  of  United  States  Beet  Sugar  Industry. 


HOW  WE  TASTE  THINGS 


155 


How  Can  We  Smell  Things? 

You  do  not  need  to  be  told  what 
organ  of  the  body  we  use  in  exer- 
cising the  sense  of  smell.  You  can 
prove  that  easily  to  yourself  by  get- 
ting the  nose  within  range  of  a  dis- 
tasteful smell. 

We  do  not  use  all  of  the  nose  to 
smell  with,  and  the  nose  is  useful  to  us 
in  other  ways  besides  this.  We  use  the 
nose  a  great  deal  in  the  act  of  respi- 
ration or  breathing,  and  it  is  also  use- 
ful in  helping  us  to  make  sounds, 
form  words,  and,  though  you  may  not 
have  known  it,  helps  our  sense  of 
taste. 

We  smell  things  by  means  of  the 
olfactory  nerves  which  are  located 
within  the  nose.  The  entire  interior 
surface  of  the  nose  is  covered  with  a 
membrane.  The  ends  of  olfactory 
nerves,  or  the  nerves  which  give  us 
the  sensation  of  smell,  are  in  this 
membrane,  and  the  air,  which  is  filled 
with  the  odor  of  things  we  smell, 
passes  over  this  membrane,  and  thus 
the  ends  of  the  nerves  feel  the  odor 
and  cause  sensation  of  smell  in  the 
brain.  The  nerves  of  smell  do  not, 
however,  go  all  through  this  mem- 
brane. 

There  are  other  nerves  in  the  nose, 
however,  besides  those  which  give  us 
the  sensation  of  smell.  These  are  also 
\ery  sensitive  and  serve  to  make  the 
nose  exercise  other  functions  when 
the  inside  of  the  nose  is  hurt  or 
tickled.  Wlicn  a  foreign  substance, 
one  of  the  many  smaller  particles 
which  are  constantly  floating  in  the 
air,  gets  into  the  membrane  in  the 
nose,  it  irritates  these  nerves  and  often 
causes  us  to  sneeze,  which  is  only  na- 
ture's effort  to  drive  out  this  foreign 
substance  and  clean  out  the  nose. 
Smell  is  one  of  the  lesser  of  the  five 
senses  which  we  possess.  It  is  one  of 
what  has  been  called  the  cliemical 
senses,  'i'hc  sense  of  smell  floes  not 
act  at  any  great  flistancc.  This  sense 
could  be  made  of  more  value  to  us 
if  we  developed  it.  Some  j)eoplc  have 
a  more  higbly  flevclf>ped  sense  of 
smell  than  others,     'i'iie  lower  animals 


have  a  much  keener  sense  of  smell 
than  people.  A  great  many  of  them 
can  follow  a  trail  for  miles  merely  by 
the  smell  of  the  foot-prints,  and  it 
is  said  that  a  deer  will  note  the  pres- 
ence of  man  or  any  other  animal  that 
may  subject  him  to  danger  even  when 
miles  away,  the  odor  being  carried  to 
him  through  the  air. 

How  Do  We  Taste  Things? 

The  sense  of  taste  is  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  sense  of  smell.  In 
fact  we  do  a  good  deal  of  what  we 
think  is  tasting  by  using  our  sense  of 
smell.  A  cold  in  the  nose  will  some- 
times destroy  almost  altogether  the 
taste  of  food,  so  that  there  is  a  very 
close  connection  between  the  sense  of 
taste  and  the  sense  of  smell. 

The  sense  of  taste  comes  to  us 
through  the  tongue,  which  is  the  prin- 
cipal organ  of  taste.  The  remainder 
of  our  sense  of  taste  lies  in  the  surface 
of  the  palate  and  in  the  throat.  As 
in  the  case  of  the  other  senses,  the 
sensation  of  taste  is  given  us  through 
nerves,  the  ends  of  which  are  all 
through  those  parts  of  the  tongue,  the 
palate  and  the  throat,  which  con- 
tribute to  this  sense.  More  nerves  of 
taste  are  located  in  the  back  part  of 
the  tongue  than  on  the  front,  and  it 
is  said  that  when  you  have  to  swal- 
low a  bad  dose  of  medicine  it  won't 
taste  so  much  if  you  put  it  on  the 
front  part  of  your  tongue  and  then 
swallow,  because  there  are  so  few 
tasting  nerves  there.  The  extreme  tip 
of  the  tongue,  however,  is  very 
thickly  covered  witb  the  ends  of  the 
taste  nerves.  In  like  manner  one  could 
have  the  front  end  of  the  tongue  cut 
ofT  and  still  retain  most  of  the  sense 
of   taste. 

Now,  in  order  to  ])roduce  tbe  sen- 
sation of  taste,  the  substance  to  be 
tasted  nuist  come  in  contact  with 
something  whicli  mixes  with  it  and 
causes  the  sensation  of  taste.  This  is 
wbat  liappcns  wlicn  we  tasti"  any- 
tbing.  Tbi'  juices  or  li(|uids  wliich 
are  caused  to  How  wlien  anything  is 
put    into    tbe    moutli    act    on    the    sub- 


156 


HOW  WE  SEE  THINGS 


stances  which  enter  and  give  the  taste 
nerves  a  chance  to  taste  them.  Really 
the  nerves  of  taste  are  so  jjlaccd  in  the 
mouth  as  to  be  regular  guards  or  in- 
spectors of  what  shall  go  into  the 
stomach.  You  can  see  how  well  they 
are  arranged.  In  the  tip  of  the  tongue 
quite  a  few  of  them ;  in  the  hack  ])art 
of  the  tongue  a  great  many  nerves, 
for  from  there  the  food  goes  into  the 
throat,  which  delivers  it  to  the  stomach ; 
then  those  in  the  palate  and  in  the 
throat.  They  are  arranged  so  that  the 
laste  nerves  have  ample  opportunity 
to  test  what  comes  in  and  to  give 
warning  to  the  brain  of  vvhat  is  being 
sent  to  the  stomach.  Sometimes  the 
things  that  come  into  the  mouth  are 
so  distasteful  to  the  nerves  of  taste 
tiiat  they  refuse  to  hand  it  over  to 
the  stomach,  but  instead  cause  the  dis- 
tasteful substance  to  be  thrown  out 
again  immediately. 

It  is  said  that  a  good  rule  to  follow 
in  eating  Avould  be  to  swallow  only 
such  things  as  are  pleasing  to  the  sense 
of  taste.  On  this  principle  many 
children  would  decide  to  eat  nothing 
but  candy,  but  do  you  know,  if  you 
tried  that,  the  continuous  tasting  of 
sweets  by  our  sense  of  taste  nerves 
would  cause  them  to  repel  further  in- 
sertion of  candy  after  a  while.  You 
know  that  too  much  of  a  good  thing 
is  bad  for  you,  and  that  is  what  makes 
you  feel  badly  when  you  have  eaten 
too  much  of  one  thing. 

What  Happens  When  We  See  ? 

Of  course,  it  is  the  eyes  with  wdiich 
we  see  things.  When  we  think  of  the 
things  with  which  we  see,  we  think 
only  of  eyes,  which  give  us  our  sense  of 
vision,  but  there  are  certain  forms  of 
animal  life  which  have  no  eyes  but 
which  have  what  are  called  eye  spots  or 
eye  points,  which  are  sensitive  to  light 
and  which  are  merely  spots.  These 
eye  spots  may  be  located  in  any  part 
of  the  body,  and  are  often  found  in 
great  numbers  on  the  same  body.  These 
rude  eyes  are,  however,  not  real  eyes. 
They  are,  as  has  already  been  said,  sen- 
sitive to  light,  but  are   found  only  in 


some  of  the  very  low  forms  of  anima'l 
life  which  live  in  the  water.  A  real 
eye  is  an  organ  in  which  the  ])arts  are 
so  arranged  that  oi)tical  images  may  be 
formed. 

As  animal  life  becomes  developed  to 
a  higher  scale,  the  parts  which  contain 
the  making  of  real  eyes  become  more 
distinct  although,  of  course,  the  eyes 
themselves  are  not  so  highly  developed 
as  in  man.  One  of  the  hrst  kinds  of 
li  f e  which  has  eyes  with  a  definite  struc- 
tural character  are  the  worms,  snails, 
etc.,  though  their  sense  of  vision  is  more 
or  less  dim. 

When  we  come  to  the  family  of  mol- 
lusks,  however,  low  down  in  the  scale 
of  life  though  they  are,  we  find  them 
to  possess  eyes  which  enable  them  to 
see  almost  as  well  as  animals  wdiich 
have  a  backbone,  although  this  kind  of 
eyes  is  constructed  in  a  very  different 
manner  than  the  eyes  of  vertebrate 
animals  referred  to.  As  we  ascend  "the 
scale  of  animal  life  in  the  study  of  eyes, 
we  come  next  to  the  crustaceous,  which 
is  an  important  division  of  animal  life 
that  embraces  the  crabs  and  lobsters, 
shrimps,  crawfish,  and  insects  such  as 
sand-hoppers,  beach-fleas,  wood-lice, 
fish-lice,  barnacles.  The  eyes  of  such 
animals  are  quite  developed,  but  the 
number  that  each  will  have  varies. 
Some  have  only  a  single  eye  and  others 
two,  four,  six  or  eight,  but  only  cer- 
tain kinds  of  this  class  of  life  have  more 
than  two  eyes.  The  spiders  generally 
have  the  most. 

In  vertebrates,  which  is  the  class  of 
animal  life  to  which  we  belong,  the 
number  of  eyes  is  almost  always  two 
and  no  more.  The  eyes  are  formed  in 
special  sockets  in  the  skull,  which  are 
called  eye  sockets  or  orbits.  This  ar- 
rangement of  placing  them  in  a  socket 
is  of  great  advantage  because  the  eye 
is  thus  protected  from  chance  of  in- 
jury except  from  one  direction — the 
front.  These  animals  have  also  eye- 
lids, eyebrows  and  eyelashes,  which 
serve  as  a  further  protection  to  the 
eyes. 

The  principal  parts  of  the  eye  are 
arranged  in  a  globe-like  ball  called  the 
eyeball.       This     eyeball     is     movable 


WHAT   ENABLES    US   TO    HEAR 


157 


in  the  socket  under  control  of  various 
muscles.  The  eyeball  is  almost  sur- 
rounded by  a  membrane  which  is  opaque 
in  most  parts,  but  very  transparent  at 
the  front.  This  transparent  portion 
of  the  surrounding  membrane  is  called 
the  cornea,  and  is  quite  hard.  This  is 
the  outside  coat  of  the  eye.  The  second 
coat  of  membrane  consists  of  parts  of 
various  names  and  contains  the  iris. 
The  third  coat  is  the  retina,  which  is 
the  end  of  the  optic  nerve  entering  the 
eye  full  from  behind  and  expanded  into 
a  membrane  which  spreads  out  over 
the  second  coat. 

The  retina  or  optic  nerve  receives 
optical  impressions  focused  upon  it  by 
the  crystalline  lens.  These  impressions 
are  carried  along  the  optic  nerve  to  the 
brain,  and  the  brain  then  receives  the 
sensation  of  seeing  the  image.  The  eye- 
ball is  hollow,  and  its  three  surrounding 
coats  form  what  is  practically  the  same 
as  the  interior  of  a  camera.  The  crys- 
talline lens  of  the  eye  acts  the  same 
as  the  lens  in  the  camera.  This  crys- 
talline lens  is  suspended  within  the  eye- 
ball right  in  front  of  the  transparent 
oj^ening  in  the  front  of  the  eyeball,  and 
when  the  rays  of  light  strike  this  lens 
it  focuses  them  on  the  retina,  which  is 
the  same  as  the  film  in  your  camera. 


Why  Can  We  Hear? 

We  can  hear  because  nature  has  pro- 
vided us  with  a  very  wonderful  organ 
called  the  ear  and  which  catches  the 
sound  waves  that  come  through  the 
air  into  the  ear  and  make  a  part  of  the 
ear  vibrate. 

In  man  and  mammals  the  ear  is  gen- 
erally found  on  the  outside  of  the  body, 
but  the  jjrincij^al  part  of  the  ear  is  lo- 
caterl  within  the  skull.  W^hat  we  call 
ears  are  only  the  funnel-shaped  exten- 
sions on  the  outside  of  the  head  which 
are  not  so  very  important  so  far  as 
licaring  is  concerned,  because  they 
only  help  the  real  car  to  hear  more 
easily.  The  outside  of  the  car  gathers 
in  the  sound  waves  and,  because  it  is 
much  larger  than  tlie  little  hole  which 
takes  the  sounds  in  to  the  real  ear, 
v.e  can  detect  more  sounds  by  having 


this  funnel-shaped  arrangement  on  the 
outside. 

The  inside  of  the  ear  contains  an  ear- 
drum or  tympanum  which  is  separated 
from  the  outside  part  of  the  ear  by  a 
membrane.  Behind  this  eardrum  is  the 
real  hearing  part  of  the  ear  in  a  laby- 
rinth containing  the  nerves  of  hearing. 

Now,  when  a  sound  wave  strikes  the 
membrane  which  hangs  over  the  open- 
ing before  the  eardrum,  the  mem- 
brane vibrates  and  transmits  the  sound 
wave  through  the  eardrum  into  the 
inner  ear  which  contains  the  ends  of 
the  nerves  by  which  we  hear.  These 
nerves,  on  receiving  the  sensation, 
transmit  it  to  the  brain  which  thus  re- 
cords the  impression  of  sounds. 

As  we  descend  the  scale  of  animal 
life  from  the  mammals  downward,  the 
ear  becomes  a  more  and  more  simple 
organ.  In  the  vertebrates  which  are  not 
mammals,  there  is  no  external  ear  at  all, 
and  we  find  great  simplifications  of  the 
ear  the  lower  down  in  the  scale  we  go. 

What  Is  a  Totem  Pole  For? 

Before  people  had  individual  names, 
the  savage  people  who  lived  in  clans  or 
tribes  referred  to  themselves  in  the 
name  of  some  natural  object,  usually 
an  animal  which  they  assumed  as  the 
name  or  emblem  of  the  clan  or  tribe. 
These  names  never  applied  to  one  in- 
dividual more  than  another,  but  only 
to  the  clan  or  tribe,  so  that  everyone 
in  a  tribe  which  had  taken  the  "wolf" 
for  its  emblem  was  known  as  "Wolf." 
Later  on  they  began  to  distinguish  in- 
dividuals by  giving  them  additional 
names  characteristic  of  the  individual, 
such  as  "Lonely  W^olf,"  "Growling 
W^olf,"  or  other  names.  The  name  of 
this  animal  was  then  the  emblem  of  one 
tribe.  They,  therefore,  placed  this  em- 
blem upon  their  bodies,  their  clothes, 
utensils,  etc.  Through  this,  these  em- 
blems also  l)ecame  at  times  idols  of 
worship  and  so  they  erected  poles  upon 
which  their  emblems  wore  engraved, 
'ihe  word  totem  is  a  Nortii  Anu'rican 
Indian  word  meaning  "faiuily  token." 
The  tribes  called  tlu-mselves  after  an- 
imals from  which  they  believed  them- 
selves descended. 


158 


WH\    FLOWHRS   HAVE  PERFUMES 


Where  Does  a  Flower  Get  Its  Perfume? 

Tlie  perfume  or  smell  of  the  flower 
comes  from  within  the  plant  itself.  The 
perfume  arises  from  an  oil  which  the 
plant  makes,  and  just  as  there  are  many 
kinds  of  flowers,  so  almost  every  flower 
has  a  different  smell.  Of  course,  flowers 
helonj^ing  to  the  same  family  or  sjkxmcs 
are  likely  to  develoj)  different  smells. 
The  oils  produced  are  what  are  known 
as  the  volatile  oils,  which  means  ''flyins^ 
oils,"  because,  if  extracted  from  the 
flower  and  placed  in  a  bottle  and  the 
cork  left  out,  they  will  vanish  into  the 
air.  \\'ithout  this  quality  we  could  not, 
of  course,  smell  them  at  all. 

Why  Do  Flowers  Have  Perfumes? 

Man  uses  these  oils  to  provide  him- 
self with  perfumes,  but  the  plant  or 
flower  has  another  purpose  than  this. 
The  perfume  is  not  made  for  man's  use, 
but  for  the  use  of  the  plant  itself.  In 
the  plant  and  flower  world  the  smell 
of  the  plant  which  is  in  the  flower  is 
a  part  of  the  scheme  whereby  plants  re- 
produce themselves. 

Every  plant  in  order  to  reproduce  it- 
self must  produce  a  seed.  The  flowers 
are  in  most  cases  the  advance  agent  of 
the  coming  seed.  I'^ach  flower  produces 
within  itself  a  little  powder  called  the 
pollen,  but  as  plants  are  like  people — 
also  male  and  female — they  are  depen- 
dent upon  each  other  for  the  production 
of  a  perfect  seed.  Some  of  the  pollen 
from  the  male  plant  must  be  mixed 
with  the  pollen  of  the  female  plant 
before  a  perfect  seed  results. 

How  Do  Flowers  Produce  Seeds? 

Naturally,  the  nearest  male  plant  to 
a  female  i)lant  may  be  quite  some  dis- 
tance oft'.  How,  then,  is  the  pollen  from 
the  male  plant  to  mix  with  the  pollen 
of  the  female  ])lant?  In  some  cases  it 
is  the  wind  which  blows  the  pollen  pow- 
der from  one  to  the  other,  and  this  thus 
leaves  the  development  of  a  perfect 
seed  from  a  perfect  flower  open  to 
chance.  In  the  case  of  ]")erfumed 
flowers,  however,  wdiich  are  mostly  low- 
growing  plants,  the  wind  cannot  be 
depended    upon.      So   nature   gives   to 


such  plants  the  ])Ower  to  make  the  per- 
fumed oil  and  the  busy  bee  does  the 
rest.  The  perfume  being  a  flying  oil 
rises  up  into  the  air  and  attracts  the 
bee.  He  is  gathering  honey  and  visits 
in  turn  all  the  flowers  to  which  he  is 
attracted.  He  lights  on  a  male  flower 
and  gathers  in  his  honey,  and  inci- 
dentally accjuires  on  his  legs,  without 
intending  to  do  so,  some  of  the  pollen 
of  the  male  flower.  Then  he  flies  about 
to  the  next  flower,  and  to  others,  and 
sooner  or  later  he  will  come  across  a 
female  flower  of  the  same  kind  as  that 
from  which  he  secured  the  pollen  on 
his  legs.  When  he  thus  enters  the  fe- 
male flower,  the  pollen  on  his  legs 
mixes  with  the  ]iollen  of  the  same  kind 
of  the  female  flower,  and  quite  unin- 
tentionally the  l)ee  hel])S  thus  to  make 
the  ])crfect  seed.  It  is  not  a  part  of  a 
bee's  business  to  do  this  carrying.  It 
only  happens  that  he  does  this  in  con- 
nection with  his  regular  business  of 
gathering  honey.  It  is  a  wonderful 
thing  which  may  be  noted  here  that  the 
pollen  from  a  male  of  any  flower  will 
not  mix  with  the  pollen  of  the  female 
of  any  other  kind  of  flower,  but  that 
the  same  kinds  only  have  attractions 
for  each  other.  Flowers  are  given  these 
attractive  perfumes  in  order  that  they 
may  attract  the  bees  and  other  insects 
in  this  way.  The  plants  or  flowers 
which  grow  closest  to  the  grounrl  have 
generally  the  strongest  and  most  far- 
reaching  smells.  This  is  so  that  they 
will  not  be  overlooked. 

Why  Are    Leaves    Not    All    the    Same 
Shape  ? 

Leaves  are  of  different  shapes  be- 
cause they  belong  to  different  families 
of  plants  or  trees.  They  are  a  good 
deal  like  people  in  this  respect.  Hardly 
two  people  in  the  world  look  exactly 
alike,  but  there  is  a  distinct  family  re- 
semblance in  members  of  the  same  fam- 
ily. It  is  difficult  to  say  just  what  hap- 
pens inside  the  tree  to  determine  the 
shape  of  the  leaf  and  that  causes  them 
to  possess  different  shapes  from  others. 
The  shape  of  the  leaf  is  a  mark  of 
identification  of  the  familv  to  which  the 


WHY  SOME   RADIATORS    ARE   LONGER  THAN   OTHERS      159 


tree  or  plant  belongs,  just  as  you  can 
tell  from  a  dog's  ears  and  from  other 
characteristics  what  his  breeding  has 
been.  In  the  case  of  plants  and  trees 
however  it  is  quite  probable  that  the 
shape  and  texture  of  the  leaves  has  been 
developed  as  the  result  of  the  condi- 
tions under  which  the  plant  grows.  A 
plant  or  tree  throws  off  oxygen  and 
takes  in  carbonic  acid  gas  through  the 
surface  of  the  leaves.  To  tlirive  and 
be  healthy  is  must  secure  just  the  proper 
amount  of  this  food  and  as  the  quan- 
tity of  food  taken  in  depends  upon  the 
amount  of  surface  exposed  through  the 
leaves,  each  particular  tree  or  plant  has 
developed  in  its  own  direction  in  this 
respect  until  this  feature  of  their  struc- 
tures has  been  adjusted  properly  to 
their  needs.  It  is  a  good  deal  like  the 
radiation  of  heat  in  your  home. 

Why  Are  Some  Radiators  Longer  Than 

Others  ? 

When  the  plumber  gets  ready  to  put 
in  the  radiators  in  the  home  he  figures 
the  cubic  measurements  of  the  room  and 
then  puts  in  a  radiator,  the  outside  sur- 
face of  whose  pipes,  is  in  the  right 
proportion  to  throw  oflf  sufficient  heat 
to  fill  the  room  or  heat  all  the  air  in 
the  room.  It  requires  a  certain  num- 
ber of  square  inches  of  radiator  surface 
to  heat  each  cubic  foot  of  air  space  and 
a  good  plumber  can  figure  this  to  a 
nicety.  If  he  puts  in  a  radiator  how- 
ever that  has  not  sufficient  number  of 
square  inches  on  the  outside  of  the 
pipes,  the  room  will  not  be  heated  prop- 
erly. '  In  the  same  way,  the  trees,  re- 
quire that  their  leaves  have  a  certain 
amount  of  square  inches  of  surface 
space  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the 
tree,  to  enable  them  to  do  what  is  re- 
quired of  them  and  this  is  arranged  by 
nature  so  that  the  trees  grow  naturally, 
and  no  doubt  the  shape  of  the  leaves 
hns  something  to  do  with  this. 

What  Makes  Roses  Red? 

All  roses  are  not  red.  Some  are 
white  and  others  pink  or  of  still  another 
color.  The  color  of  the  rose,  and  in 
fact  the  color  of  all  flowers  is  flue  to 


the  way  they  absorb  and  reflect  the  sun- 
light. In  the  case  of  the  red  rose,  the 
something  in  the  plant  that  determines 
the  color,  absorbs  all  the  other  colors 
in  the  sunlight  and  reflects  the  pure 
red  rays  and  that  makes  the  color  of 
the  red  rose.  You  cannot  see  the  color 
of  any  flower  when  it  is  perfectly  dark. 
That  is  because  they  have  no  color  of 
their  own,  but  only  the  colors  which 
they  reflect  when  in  the  sunlight  or 
some  other  light.  The  question  of  col- 
ors is  more  fully  explained  in  another 
part  of  the  book. 

Why   Do    Plants   and    Trees    Grow    Up 
Instead   of  Down? 

As  a  matter  of  fact  plants  and  trees 
do  grow  downward  as  well  as  up.  There 
is  a  part  of  each  called  the  root  whose 
business  it  is  to  grow  down  and 
take  certain  things  necessary  to  the  life 
of  the  tree  out  of  the  ground.  But  the 
part  we  see  above  the  ground  and 
which  is  the  part  we  generally  think 
of  only  when  we  think  of  plants  or  trees. 

The  tree  or  plant,  in  order  to  grow 
properly,  and  eventually  produce  flow- 
ers and  perfect  seeds,  must  have  sun- 
shine and  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  it  is 
the  business  of  the  leaves  and  other 
parts  above  the  ground  to  get  these  out 
of  the  air  for  the  good  of  the  plant 
or  tree.  So  they  start  to  grow  toward 
the  sun.  It  is  easy  to  prove  how  a  plant 
will  turn  toward  the  light.  Take  notice 
of  the  plants  in  the  flower  pots  at  home. 
Set  one  of  them  on  the  window  sill 
inside  the  window  where  the  sun  can 
shine  on  it  and  notice  how  quickly  the 
leaves  and  branches  will  be  bent  over 
against  the  window  pane.  Turn  it  com- 
pletely around  tlien  so  that  the  plant 
leans  away  from  the  sunlight  and  watch 
it  for  a  day  or  two.  Before  long  you 
will  find  that  is  has  not  only  straight- 
ened itself  completely  out  but  started 
to  lean  toward  the  window  glass  again 
so  as  to  get  as  near  the  sun  as  possible. 
Most  plants,  if  kept  where  the  sun- 
liglit  cannot  touch  them,  will  die.  The 
sunlight  is  a  necessary  part  of  their 
lives. 


160 


WHAT   THORNS   ON    ROSES   ARE    FOR 


What  Becomes  of  the  Plants  and  Flowers 
in  Winter? 

A  f^reat  many,  in  fact  the  large  per- 
centage of  plants,  live  only  during  one 
season.  This  kind  of  plant  actually  dies 
completely  after,  in  the  natural  course 
of  growth  and  flowering,  it  has  pro- 
duced its  seed  which  is  the  method  by 
which  such  plants  are  reproduced. 
Other  plants  only  appear  to  die  in  the 
winter.  Parts  of  them,  such  as  th« 
leaves  and  flowers  actually  die,  but  the 
roots  and  stalks  of  such  jilants  do  not 
die  in  winter.  The  part  that  represents 
the  life  in  them  goes  to  sleep  and  lies 
dormant  until  the  light  and  warmth  of 
summer  bring  forth  the  leaves  and 
flowers  again. 

The  flowers,  however,  always  die  and 
the  same  flowers  never  appear  again  but 
others  just  like  them  appear  in  their 
places. 

Even  in  hot  countries  where  there  is 
no  winter,  the  plants  must  go  through  a 
period  of  rest  or  sleep,  although  this 
change  is  not  so  marked  in  plants  which 
grow  in  these  hot  countries. 

How  Can  Some  Plants  Climb  a  Smooth 
Wall? 

To  get  at  the  answer  to  this  question. 
we  should  pick  out  one  kind  of  plant  like 
the  creeping  ivy  vine.  If  we  examine 
same  as  it  climbs  a  brick  wall,  w^e  find 
that  it  sends  out  little  shoots  which  at- 
tach themselves  around  the  little  rough 
places  in  the  bricks  of  the  wall  which, 
if  examined  under  a  microscope  are 
quite  large  apparently — at  least  they  are 
large  enough  for  the  tiny  creepers  of 
the  ivy  to  hold  on  to.  Of  course,  if 
there  were  only  one  little  "shoot"  to 
reach  out  and  take  hold  of  the  rough 
spots  in  the  wall,  the  vine  could  not 
cling  to  the  wall,  but  the  vine  puts  out 
a  great  many  of  these  shoots — which  it 
would  perhaps  be  best  to  call  "dingers" 
and  as  each  helps  a  little  to  hold  on,  the 
great  number  all  holding  on  together 
enable  a  quite  heavy  vine  to  hang  on  to 
an  apparently  smooth  wall. 

Some  vines  have  actually  the  ability 
to    send    out   little    suckers   which    are 


made  on  the  same  principle  as  the  boys' 
sucker  (a  circular  piece  of  leather  with 
string  attached  to  the  middle  with 
which  a  boy  can  pipk  up  stones)  and 
such  plants  can  cling  to  and  climb  up  an 
almost  perfectly  smooth  wall. 

What   Are    the    Thorns   on    Roses    and 
Other  Plants  Good  For? 

The  thorns  of  roses  and  other  plants 
which  have  thorns  originally  grew  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  [)lants  to 
fasten  themselves  on  to  other  things  thus 
helping  them  to  climb.  Many  plants  with 
thorns  are  permitted  to  grow  now  in 
places  where  they  can  use  their  thorn  > 
for  climbing  but  many  others  with 
thorns  are  cut  down  by  the  gardener  to 
make  the  plants  shapely  and  to  make 
them  produce  more  flowers  and  less 
branches,  but  they  keep  on  growing 
their  thorns  just  the  same. 

Do  Plants  Breathe? 

Yes,  indeed,  j^lants  do  breathe.  To 
breathe  is  just  as  important  to  the  life 
of  a  plant  as  it  is  to  a  boy  or  girl. 
Plants  do  not  have  lungs  like  boys  and 
girls  and  grown  up  people,  but  they  find 
it  necessary  to  breathe.  You  know,  of 
course,  that  fishes  breathe,  but  they 
haven't  any  lungs  either,  even  though 
they  belong  to  the  animal  kingdom. 
Fishes  do  not,  however,  breathe  the  air 
in  the  same  form  as  we  do  because  they 
must  use  the  air  which  they  find  in  the 
water.  That  is  why  we  say  fishes  drown 
when  on  the  land.  They  cannot  breathe 
air  in  the  form  in  which  we  are  able 
to  use  it  any  more  than  people  can 
breathe  the  air  in  the  water. 

I'reathing,  however,  is  necessary  to 
all  living  things  and  the  gas  which  we 
take  in  when  breathing  is  oxygen.  There 
is  oxygen  in  the  water  as  well  as  in  the 
air.  Things  which  live  in  the  air  take 
their  oxygen  out  of  the  air  and  things 
which  live  in  the  water  get  their  oxygen 
out  of  the  water.  For  this  purpose  it 
is  necessary  for  plants  and  animals 
that  live  under  the  water  to  have  a 
breathing  apparatus  especially  adapted 
for  getting  oxygen  out  of  the  water. 


WHY   MILK  BECOMES  SOUR 


161 


What  Happens  When  Breathing  Occurs  ? 
The  act  of  breathing  consists  really 
of  two  actions.  Taking  something  into 
the  body  and  expelling  something. 
Every  living  thing  inhales  and  expels 
in  breathing.  We  take  in  oxygen  and 
expel  it  again  but  when  it  comes  out  it 
has  added  something  to  it  and  the  com- 
bination or  result  is  carbonic  acid  gas — 
so  we  take  in  oxygen  and  expel  carbonic 
acid  gas. 

How  Do  Plants  Breathe? 

The  lungs  of  a  plant,  or  what  the 
plant  breathes  with  corresponding  to 
our  lungs,  are  located  in  the  leaves  of 
the  plant.  Under  a  magnifying  glass 
we  can  see  the  lungs  of  the  leaf  quite 
clearly.  In  addition  to  this  we  rcnow 
that  plants  breathe,  because  if  we  put 
them  in  a  vacuum  where  there  is  no  air 
they  die  very  quickly.  The  plant  needs 
air  or  it  will  suffocate  just  as  any  ani- 
mal will  suffocate  under  similar  con- 
ditions. Plants,  however,  do  not  make 
use  of  the  oxygen  as  they  find  it  in 
the  air.  They  live  on  the  carbon  which 
they  find  in  the  air  mixed  with  oxygen. 
\\'hat  happens  then  is  this.  The  plants 
take  in  through  their  lungs  in  the  leaves 
carbonic  acid  gas  from  which  they  take 
the  carbon  and  use  it  as  food,  and  throw 
off  the  oxygen  which  they  cannot  use. 
Human  beings  and  other  animals  take 
the  oxygen  into  their  lungs  and  use  it 
and  c.xpel  carbonic  acid  gas.  The  resuit 
is  that  each  kind  of  life  is  dependent 
upon  the  other.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
]*lant  life,  men  and  other  animals  would 
finfl  it  difficult  perhaps  to  find  sufficient 
oxygen  in  the  air  to  keep  them  alive,  and 
if  it  were  not  for  the  carbonic  acid  gas 
which  the  animals  throw  off,  plants  ann 
other  vegetable  life  would  have  great 
difficulty  in  finding  sufficient  carbonic 
acid  gas  to  go  around. 

Why  Do  Plants  Need  Sunlight? 

Most  plants,  if  placed  where  no  light 
from  the  sun  can  reach  them,  will  die 
very  quickly.  To  prove  that  a  plant 
needs  the  sunlight  we  have  only  1o 
j)lace  it  in  a  flark  corner  of  the  cellar 


and  notice  how  soon  it  dies.  In  fact  if 
it  were  not  for  sunlight  there  would  be 
no  life  on  earth  at  all.  The  plant  or 
tree  drinks  in  sunlight  through  the  sur- 
face of  the  leaves.  In  fact  the  ability 
to  take  in  sunlight  constitutes  the  real 
life  of  the  tree  or  plant.  Leaves  grow 
thin  and  flat  in  order  that  as  much  sur- 
face as  possible  may  be  exposed  to  the 
sunlight.  If  a  leaf  were  curled  up  like 
a  hoop  only  a  part  of  the  outside  sur- 
face would  be  exposed  to  the  sunlight 
and  the  amount  of  life  that  a  leaf  could 
supply  to  the  rest  of  the  tree  would  be 
much  less.  The  leaf  is  so  constructed 
that  when  the  sunlight  strikes  down 
upon  its  green  surface,  it  changes  the 
carbonic  acid  gas  which  it  drinks  in, 
into  its  elements,  i.e.,  it  takes  out  the 
carbon  which  goes  into  the  body  of  the 
plant  and  combining  with  other  food 
and  water  supplied  lay  the  roots  causes 
the  plant  or  tree  to  grow  and  then  re- 
turns the  oxygen  part  of  the  carbonic 
acid  gas  to  the  air. 

Why  Does  Milk  Turn  Sour? 

The  milk  turns  sour  because  a  little 
microbe,  known  as  the  milk  microbe 
gets  into  it,  and  being  very  fond  of  the 
sugar  which  is  in  the  milk,  turns  this 
sugar  into  an  acid. 

If  we  could  keep  milk  entirely  away 
from  the  air  after  the  cow  is  milked, 
it  would  not  turn  sour,  but  as  soon  as 
it  is  exposed  to  the  air  these  microbes 
which  are  constantly  in  the  air,  drop 
into  the  milk.  They  are  alive,  although 
invisible  to  the  naked  eye.  If  when  they 
drop  into  the  nn'lk  it  is  warm  enough 
for  them  to  get  in  their  work  so  to 
speak,  they  fal.l  upon  the  sugar  in  the 
milk  and  turn  it  into  the  acid.  Their 
attempt  to  sour  the  milk  can  be  over- 
come by  kec|)ing  the  milk  at  a  low  tem- 
perature in  the  refrigerator,  but  as  soon 
as  the  milk  is  taken  <nit  of  the  refriger- 
ator and  left  out  long  enough  to  become 
warm,  ihe  microbe  begins  to  work  and 
the  milk  caniiol  be  made  sweet  again. 
If  the  milk-  is  bailed  as  soon  or  shortly 
after  the  cow  is  milked,  the  sugar  in 
I  lie  milk  is  changed  in  such  a  way  that 
the    microbe   cannot    ft'cd    upon    it. 


A   PERSIAN    RUG   WLAVEK    AT    WORK.* 


The   Story  in   a   Rug 


What  Are  Carpets  and  Rugs  Made  Of? 

The  choicest  wool  of  the  world  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  carpet.  In 
order  to  give  satisfactory  service  carpet 
must  be  made  of  wool  that  is  of  a  tough 
quality  and  has  a  long  fiber.  Such 
wool  is  not  produced  in  America,  and 
tlie  markets  of  the  distant  lands  that 
supply  it  are  practically  exhausted  to 
supply  the  American  manufacturers. 
Most  of  the  wool  used  comes  from 
Northern  Russia,  Siberia  and  China.  It 
is  shipped  in  bales.  When  it  arrives  at 
the  mill  there  is  much  to  be  done  before 
the  wool  is  ready  for  any  process  of 
manufacturing. 

How  Long  Have  People  Used  Carpets? 

The  art  of  weaving  stands  foremost 
among  the  ancient  industries.  It  came 
into  being  in  the  sunrise  lands  of  the 
East  where  color  has  endless  charm 
and  variety  and  where  figure  is  made  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  fact  and  fancy. 
The  art  of  weaving  rugs  is  older  than 
Eg>'ptian  civilization.  Stone  carvings 
made  when  Eg}'pt  was  yet  unborn  were 
reproduced  in  rugs. 

At  what  period  the  loom  was  first 
used  is  impossible  to  tell.     An  ancient 


Jewish  legend  claims  that  Naamah, 
daughter  of  Tubal-Cain,  was  the  in- 
ventor of  the  process  of  weaving 
threads  into  cloth.  There  are  other  in- 
dications that  the  ancient  Hebrews  were 
the  first  weavers.  Mythology  also  tells 
of  beautiful  maidens  weaving  exquisite 
patterns  for  the  gods.  Most  of  us  are 
familiar  with  the  story  of  Jason  who 
set  sail  on  the  Argo  in  search  of  the 
Golden  Fleece,  arrived  at  the  kingdom 
of  Aeetes,  won  the  hand  of  Medea,  the 
daughter  of  Aeetes,  who  eloped  with 
him  after  he  had  secured  the  coveted 
fleece. 

The  first  hands  busy  at  the  weaving 
craft  undoubtedly  were  those  of 
women.  Chaldean  gossip,  repeated  in 
history  relates  that  Sardanphulees,  an 
ancient  Greek  king,  was  often  seen  in 
woman's  garb  carding  purple  wool 
from  which  his  wives  wrought  rugs  for 
floor  coverings  for  the  palace.  Homer 
shows  Helen  of  Troy  setting  the  tale 
of  her  people's  war  in  the  woof  of  her 
web,  and  also  tells  with  Virgil  of  rugs 
that  were  laid  under  the  thrones  of 
kings  or  upon  chariot  horses.  Ancient 
Hindu  hymns  show  that  these  people 
made  their  textile  fabrics  studies  of 
great  beauty.    The  woman  in  the  Prov- 


♦Pictures  and  descriptions  by  courtesy  of   Hartford  Carpet  Co. 


WHAT  THE   DESIGNS   IN  RUGS   MEAN 


163 


erbs  of  Solomon  says :  "I  have  woven 
my  bed  with  cords ;  I  have  covered  it 
with  painted  tapestry  from  Egypt." 
One  learns  from  the  writings  of  Pliny 
of  the  large  money  value  of  rugs  in 
ancient  times.  He  wrote  at  length  of 
a  vast  rug  displayed  at  a  banquet  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphius,  the  value  of 
which  was  placed  at  a  fabulous  sum. 

A  later  writer  tells  of  the  love  of 
Cleopatra  for  rich  rugs  and  tapestries 
that  were  woven  in  her  palace  or  in 
the  countries  to  the  East.  On  the  oc- 
casions of  her  meeting  with  Caesar  and 
Antony,  the  Eg}^ptian  queen  enveloped 
herself  in  a  superb  rug  which  she  had 
woven  especially  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  her  renowned  beauty  to  the 
best  advantage.  Akhar,  emperor  of 
Hindostan,  spread  a  knowledge  of  the 
art  of  weaving  throughout  India. 

The  earlier  phases  of  the  art  of 
weaving  may  be  traced  through  the 
land  of  the  Pharaohs  to  Northern 
Africa,  Southwestern  Asia,  and  finally 
into  the  dawn  of  the  Aryan  civilization. 
The  loom  has  not  been  materially 
changed,  and  it  may  be  seen  to-day  as 
it  was  in  the  time  when  the  priests  of 
Heliopolis  decorated  the  shrines  of 
their  gods  with  magnificent  carpets  and 
when  Delilah  wove  the  hair  of  Samson 
with  her  web  and  fastened  it  with  a 
wooden  pin.  The  ancient  weavers  at- 
tained high  artistic  standards  in  their 
fabrics.  Pliny  tells  of  Babylonian 
couch  covers  that  had  all  the  beauty  of 
paintings  and  sold  for  great  fortunes 
to  the  ancient  Asiatic  kings. 

In  all  ages  fine  rugs  have  been  used 
for  religious  purposes.  Early  writings 
describe  the  use  of  rugs  on  the  holy 
cars  of  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  at  the 
tomb  of  the  prophet  at  Medinah  and 
throughout  the  mosques  of  the  Orient. 
The  aljbot  Egelric  gave  to  the  church 
at  Croyland,  before  the  year  892,  two 
large  rugs  to  be  laid  before  the  high 
altar  on  great  festivals.  At  later  pe- 
riods rugs  were  used  for  similar  ])ur- 
poses  in  the  cathedrals  of  Southern 
Europe. 

The  Oriental  people  ever  have  been 
devoted  to  symbols  and  naturally  wove 
them  into  th<'ir  fribrir^:.     Their  t('xtflc<^ 


were  made  to  reproduce  mythological 
stories  in  which  the  fauna  and  flora  of 
a  country  figured  prominently.  There 
was  the  symbolism  of  form,  color  and 
animal  life,  of  trees  and  flowers,  of 
faith,  and  earthly  and  heavenly  exist- 
ence. The  symbols  were  made  to  illus- 
trate the  conflict  between  light  and 
darkness,  the  evolution  of  hfe,  the 
decay  of  death  and  the  immortality  that 
awaits  the  blessed  in  paradise. 

What  Do  the  Designs  in  Rugs  Mean? 

Since  many  of  the  figures  of  ancient 
rug-weaving  are  retained  in  modern  rug 
designs,  the  following  list  of  meanings 
of  ancient  Oriental  symbols  used  in 
rug-weaving  may  be  interesting  as  a 
key  to  the  stories  that  are  said  to  ap- 
pear in  many  rugs  of  Oriental  design : 


Asp — intelligence 
Bat — duration 
Bee — immortality 
Beetle — earthly  life 
Blossom — life 
Boat — serene  spirit 
Butterfly — soil 
Crescent — celes- 
tial virgin 
Crocodile — deity 
Dove — love 
Eagle — creation 
Egg— life 
Feather — truth 
Goose — child 
Lizard — wisdom 
Palm  tree — im- 
mortality 


Sail  of  vessel — 

breath 
Wheel — deity 
Lion — power 
Ass — humility 
Butterfly — benefi- 
cence of  summer 
Jug — knowledge 
Ox — patience 
Hawk — power 
Lotus — the  sun 
Pine-cone — fire 
Zigzag — water 
Leopard — fame 
Sword — force 
Serpent — desire 
Bird — spirit 
Owl — wisdom 
Pig — kindness 


Such  are  the  traditions  that  the 
makers  of  modern  rugs  must  live  up 
to.  The  art  of  the  centuries  has  been 
revealed  in  the  rugs  of  many  nations, 
and  the  rug-maker  of  to-day  must  up- 
hold the  standards  of  an  art  that  un- 
doubtedly takes  rank  with  the  great 
arts.  Wliere  a  valuable  painting  goes 
into  the  home  of  one  millionaire,  thou- 
sands of  rugs  made  from  an  original 
design  of  un(|ueslioned  art  and  beauty 
go  into  homes  the  country  over  to  give 
warmth,  comfort  and   beauty,   delight- 


164 


HOW  OUR   GRANDMOTHERS   MADE   RAG   CARPETS 


ing  housewives  and  imparting  a  sense 
of  coziness  and  elegance. 

According  to  students  of  the  art  of 
weaving,  the  perfection  of  this  art  was 
attained  about  the  sixteenth  century, 
after  many  centuries  of  slow  growth'. 
Since  then  weaving  as  an  art  has  been 
broadened  and  given  a  wider  scope 
by  means  of  processes  invented  for  a 
cheaper  production  of  rugs  in  all  the 
beauty  of  their  original  designs.  But 
there  also  has  developed  a  modern 
school  of  rug  and  carpet  designing  that 


at  a  range  of  prices  within  the  financial 
reach  of  people  of  modest  means. 

It  is  only  a  step  from  the  ancient 
weaving  of  rugs,  with  all  the  color, 
glamor  and  romance  that  attached  to 
rug-weaving  in  the  ancient  days,  to  the 
manufacture  of  rugs  in  America  to-day. 
There  is  no  romance  attached  to  the 
making  of  rugs  and  carpets  in  America, 
except  the  romance  of  industrial 
achievement ;  but  the  American  rug- 
maker  is  as  careful  of  the  quality  anrl 
beauty    of    his    product    as    was    the 


M.^KING   THE  OLD   RAG  CARPET. 


in  itself  represents  no  mean  standard 
of  art.  Many  of  the  less  expensive 
grades  of  American  rugs  and  carpets, 
for  example,  are  of  designs  created  by 
artists  of  this  modern  school  of  weav- 
ing designs  whose  work  is  of  a  high 
degree  of  artistic  excellence. 

A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  many 
homes  had  rugs  woven  by  the  house- 
wives with  their  spinning-wheels,  or  no 
floor  coverings,  except  crude  cloths 
made  of  rags.  These  homes,  of  course, 
were  those  of  families  in  moderate  cir- 
cumstances, wliich  to-day  can  have 
their  attractive  and  comfort-giving  rugs 
of  the  less  expensive  grades  of  tapestry 
carpet,  Axminster  or  of  the  various 
other  grades  of   carpet  manufactured 


ancient  weaver,  and  the  best  standards 
of  ancient  weaving  have  been  realized 
in  the  manufacture  of  rugs  and  carpets 
in  America  to-day. 

Why  Did  the  Ancients  Make  Rugs? 

It  is  only  a  rug,  several  yards  of 
woven  threads,  a  design  that  few  can 
understand — a  simple  thing,  to  be  sure ; 
yet  what  a  lot  of  history  and  memories 
and  traditions  it  carries !  Merely  a 
strip  of  carpet,  with  strange  figures, 
beautiful  though  meaningless,  a  prod- 
uct of  modern  invention  like  many 
another,  some  may  think.  But  the  story 
of  a  rug  may  go  back  through  many 
centuries  to  ancient  times  of   opulent 


WHY   SOME  RUGS  ARE  SO   VALUABLE 


165 


splendor,  when  wars  were  waged  and 
kingdoms  created  and  shattered  for  the 
beauty  of  a  woman ;  when  gorgeous 
palaces  were  raised  and  great  spectacles 
of  art  were  shown  to  inspire  the  world 
for  thousands  of  years. 

Only  a  rug,  but  a  relic  of  a  rich  and 
glowing  past !  For  in  those  distant  days 
of  war  and  pageantry,  an  era  more 
classic  than  our  own,  history  and  ro- 
mance were  woven  into  the  rug.  The 
patterns  and  designs  told  great  stories 
of  wars  and  loves  that  swept  nations 
away  and  created  great  new  empires 
and  related  vivid  accounts  of  intrigue 
and  tragedy  that  determined  history 
and  inspired  the  immortal  works  of 
poets  and  dramatists.  The  rug  in  the 
ancient  times  was  also  used  for  re- 
ligious symbolism,  and  sacred  doctrines 
were  inscribed  in  the  woven  figures. 

Of  all  the  arts  none  has  been  as  close 
to  the  lives  and  history  of  the  peoples 
of  the  earth  as  the  art  of  weaving. 
Songs  and  stories  of  these  peoples  and 
their  national  achievements  have  been 
immortalized  through  their  woven  fab- 
rics. Generations  have  learned  of  the 
great  deeds  of  their  forefathers 
through  the  historical  accounts  woven 
into  rugs.    And  in  the  days  of  the  early 


Greeks,  Hebrews  and  Egyptians  and  on 
through  the  succeeding  centuries  until 
the  middle  ages  the  rug  was  used  as  a 
symbolical  part  of  state,  religious  and 
romantic  ceremonies. 

What  Makes  Some  Rugs  so  Valuable? 

The  reason  many  rugs  are  valued  at 
so  high  a  price  in  money  is  largely  due 
to  the  skill  of  the  artist  or  designer, 
just  as  a  painting  becomes  valuable  be- 
cause the  artist  who  painted  it  has 
succeeded  in  producing  a  remarkable 
result.  The  question  of  rarity  also 
enters  largely  into  the  value  of  rugs. 
The  great  artist  weavers  of  the  past 
who  worked  for  love  of  their  art  rather 
than  for  the  money  they  might  secure 
by  disposing  of  their  masterpieces,  are 
dead,  and  they  have  had  no  successors. 
Then,  also,  the  rug  becomes  valuable 
by  reason  of  the  amount  of  time  and 
labor  put  into  it.  Many  valuable  rugs 
take  years  to  produce,  because  the  artist 
must  do  all  his  work  by  hand  prac- 
tically and  tie  his  different  colored 
yarns  together  just  so,  or  the  pattern 
will  not  come  right.  These  knots  may 
occur  every  inch  or  sometimes  even 
less  than  an  inch,  and  there  will  be 
thousands  of  hand  knots  in  one  rusr. 


MAKING  TURKISH  KL'GS. 


166 


THE  OLDER  THEY  ARE  THE  MORE  HIGHLY  PRIZED 


Tu^  nh^vp  U  a  tvnical  Chinese  rue,  containing  symbolical  emblems. 
?hLt  an  an?ique  and  is  of  a  class  that  sells  sometimes  as  high  as  $5,ooo,  its  rar,ty 
of  design,  beauty  in  colors,  and  scarcity  enhances  its  value. 


This  is  .„  American  maCine-made  '"^^r.r^n^  ?eS'Sa™a^k  S'.l-ir'h  i's 


WHERE  THE  BEST  PERSIAN  RUGS  ARE  MADE 


167 


This  antique  Persian  was  made  in  the  district  of  Kurdistan,  in  Western  Persia.  The  general  effect 
is  handsome,  although  the  design  is  crude.  The  ground  is  of  a  deep  rich  red,  and  top  colors  of  d^rk 
blue   and   ecru. 

The  most  valuable  Persian  rugs  come  from  Kurdistan,  Khurasan,  Peraghan  and  Karman.  The  most 
highly  prized  come  from  Kurdistan.  The  pattern  does  not  show  a  uniform  ground  of  flowers  or  other 
objects,  but  looks  more  like  a  field  of  wild  flowers  in  the  spring,  which  is  very  appropriate  as  a  design 
for  anything  that  is  to  be  walked  upon.  It  is  astonishing  what  wonderful  artistic  ability  is  displayed  by 
some  of  the  members  of  these  wild  nomadic  Persian  people.  The  carpets  and  rugs  are  woven  on  a 
simple  frame  on  which  the  warp  is  stretched.  The  woof,  or  cross  threads,  consist  of  short  threads 
woven  into  the  warp  with  the  fingers  and  without  the  use  of  a  shuttle.  Then  a  sort  of  comb  is  pressed 
against  the  loose  row  of  cross  threads  to  lighten  it.  The  weaver  sits  with  the  back  of  the  rug  towards 
him,  do   that  he  depends  entirely   on   his  memory   to  produce  a   perfect  pattern. 


^b      ^^Tf^      <<\\     $^\^?     %^-^  ^^'  .^fr\^     '4^ 


iiP  \\\4  \w  \\i4  w"  '^  Khi*  "^i^j 

;  ;    -  :*r  >  o     :  .«>  «  -:*-•-  ft  ^"*>  «  --  *  .>  <*  -s  ;«t  s.  «  -s  *  S      '\      \ 

;  \y  ^,}:n-i>     On*-    KJ-nHV    HhW    ^n-W*    <t\\i^    ^ '^ 


f       ,  \y^\y  \y//\y  \y^\f  -..f^^v  wv  m 


Thij   rug  is  an  American   coj/y   of  a  lyi.ical   Kurdiblan. 
atiij   design    arc    reproduced    in    this   domestic    rug. 


It   is   marvellous   liuw    well    ihc   clk-cl   in 


168      HOW  WE    IMITATE   POPULAR   DESIGNS   BY   MACHINER\ 


This  Tabriz  reproduction  has  all  the  characteristics  of  the  genuine  rug  in  both  design 
and  color.     The  ground  is  of  a  soft  rose  with  figures  olives,  ivory  and  deep  blue. 


Tliis  is  a  copy  of  an  old  piece  of  a  rug  in  the  Kensington  Museum,  London,  which  is 
500  to  600  years  old.  The  design  is  very  interesting  on  account  of  the  symbolical  figures 
which  cover  the  ground. 


HOW  MODERN  CARPETS  ARE  MADE 


169 


WOOL-PICKING    MACHINE. 


The  Making  of  Carpets 


How    Are    Modern    Rugs    and    Carpets 

Made? 

The  Ijest  way  to  learn  of  this  is  for 
us  to  take  a  brief  visit  to  one  of  the 
largest  carpet  factories,  where  we  will 
assume  we  have  already  arrived. 

There  is  a  sharp  whistle,  then  an  out- 
let of  steam,  the  clang  of  a  bell  and  a 
locomotive  rolls  around  the  curve  of 
the  spur-track  into  the  factory  yard. 
Attached  to  it  are  several  freight  cars 
that  only  the  day  before  received  their 
cargoes  at  the  New  York  docks  fresh 
from  steamshi])S  coming  from  foreign 
lands.  Inside  the  yard,  the  engine 
comes  to  a  stop  alongside  a  warehouse. 
Sturdy  men  unlock  the  doors  of  the 
cars  and  begin  ])ulling  out  bales  of  the 
imported  wool. 

This  is  the  first  stcji  in  the  evolution 
of  a  rug.  Between  the  arrival  of  the 
rough   wool  at  the  warehouse  and   the 


placing  in  the  stock  room  of  the  finished 
rug,  splendidly  woven  after  an  artistic 
design  shown  in  attractive  colors,  many 
interesting  processes  are  followed.  It 
is  sufficient  to  state  that  few  people 
looking  at  rugs  of  the  Saxony,  or  Ax- 
minster  or  Tapestry  type  realize  the 
high  degree  of  mechanical  science  and 
artistic  perception  that  have  been 
brought  to  bear  in  the  manufacture  of 
these  rugs. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  wool  there 
are  many  steps  to  be  taken  until  the 
skeins  of  yarn  receive  their  coloring 
treatment  in  the  dye-house  and,  at  the 
bidding  of  the  great  machine,  assemble 
themselves  in  the  beautiful  designs  that 
the  artists  have  created.  Though  there 
are  many  details  of  work  in  the  devel- 
opment of  a  rug,  they  have  been  so 
well  mastered  that  the  employes  in 
charge  of  every  stage  of  the  rug's  cvo- 


170 


HOW  THE  YARN  FOR  CARPETS  IS  DYED 


lution  give  to  iheir  work  a  nicety  of 
attention  in  little  time  that  careful  train- 
ing and  scientific  understanding  alone 
can  supply. 

The  travel-stained  covers  of  the  bales 
are  removed.  The  heavy  bulk  is  broken 
and  the  tightly-compressed  bales  loos- 
ened. Then  the  wool  is  fed  into  the 
washing-machine,  and  after  that  goes 
into  the  picking-machine.  The  process 
of  cleansing  the  wool  is  an  elaborate 
one.  for  it  is  so  full  of  dirt  and  grease 
that  several  waters  and  several  opera- 
tions are  necessary  to  its  final  ai)pear- 
ance  in  a  white  and  fleecy  condition. 
After  the  last  washing  the  wool  is  lifted 
to  a  drying-room,  where  the  heat  from 
steam-coils  is  forced  through  it  by 
means  of  blowers. 

The  wool  now  passes  to  the  sorting- 
room,  where  the  blends  are  carefully 
made  before  it  goes  to  the  machine 
which  tears  the  wool  fibers  aj^art,  and 
gets  them  in  shape  for  the  carding  and 
combing  processes.  Next  the  wool  is 
blown  into  a  spinning  mill.  The  wool 
is  now  ready  to  be  converted  into  yarn. 
It  passes  through  a  picking-machine, 
which  blends  the  different  grades  of 
the  raw  material,  selecting  the  strands 
as  to  fiber  and  color.  Then  it  is  refined 
and  purified. 


chine,  the  wool  is  taken  to  the  floor 
above,  where  the  big  spools  of  yarn 
reach  the  combing  machine  for  the  next 
process.  This  machine  separates  the 
long  from  the  short  fibers.  The  strands 
of  wool  are  still  thick  and  must  go 
through  another  process  before  they  are 
ready  to  be  made  into  yam.  They  are 
finally  united  and  given  sufficient 
strength  to  stand  the  weaving  process. 
As  the  visitor  sees  the  strands  of  yarn 
first  ai:)pear  on  the  machine  they  re- 
semble rolls  of  smoke. 

The  yarn  next  appears  on   rows  of 
spindles    in    the    mule-room,    six    hun- 


DYEING     THE     YARN 


CARniXG      M.XCHIXE 

Through  tubes  the  wool  is  forced  to 
the  carding-room  by  means  of  air  pres- 
sure. In  passing  through  the  cards  it 
is  carefully  weighed  to  secure  evenness 
in  the  yarn.     Leaving  the  carding  ma- 


dred  feet  long,  where  the  yarn  is 
twisted  and  brought  to  its  final  stage. 
The  yarn  now  is  ready  for  the  dye- 
house.  Here  the  atmosphere  is  very 
dense.  Clouds  of  steam  rise  from  the 
many  vats  of  boiling  dyes.  The  yarn 
receives  the  coloring  for  which  it  is  in- 
tended, or  is  bleached  in  an  adjoining 
department,  and  then  is  transferred  on 
poles  to  the  drying-room,  after  passing 
through  a  steaming  process  which  sets 
the  color.  Next  it  passes  on  an  electric 
conveyor  to  the   weave-shop. 

Considerable  skill  is  required  in  the 
weaving  process.  The  assembling  of 
the  yarns  and  matching  of  colors  re- 
quire expert  attention.  The  skeins  of 
yarn  are  wound  on  spools,  which  are 
put  in  sets  back  of  the  looms,  each 
color  or  set  representing  one  "frame" 
of  color  in   the   rug.      By  the   famous 


HOW  A  CARPET   IS  WOVEN   BY  MACHINERY 


172  10,000,000  ^  ARDS  OF   CARPET  PER  YEAR  FROM  ONE  FACTORY 


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SOME   DESIGNS  STAMPED   ON   YARN   BEFORE   WEAVING     173 


Jacquard  motion  of  cards  each  color 
wanted  in  the  surface  of  the  rug  is 
pulled  up  in  its  proper  place,  the  other 
frame  color  laying  in  the  back  of  the 
rug.  The  mechanical  process  is  a  re- 
markable sight.  As  the  pattern  forms 
itself  from  the  mechanical  devices,  the 
onlooker  is  struck  with  the  wonder  of 
it. 

The  weave  is  now  completed  ;  the  rug 
comes  out.  But  it  is  rough  and  has  to 
be  finished.  It  is  passed  through  a  ma- 
chine that  removes  the  roughness  of 
the   face  as  a  lawn-mower  cuts  away 


tlie  top-grass.     The  ends  are  finished, 
and  the  carpet  is  complete. 

The  pattern  of  tapestry  carpet  is 
obtained  by  printing  the  colors  to  ap- 
pear in  the  design  on  the  yarn  which 
forms  the  face  before  the  weaving  is 
started,  by  means  of  large  drums.  After 
all  rugs  leave  the  weave-shop  a  force 
of  skilled  women  examine  them  care- 
fully to  make  sure  that  there  are  no 
defects.  Every  yard  of  the  annual  out- 
put of  carpet  and  rugs  is  inspected  five 
times  before  it  leaves  the  factory. 


n 

■ 

1 

^^Mr    ijlHS 

1 

mm     LJ9'^ 

1 

E 

L^ 

m 

EXAMINING   AND   REPAIRING 


PACKING   FOR    SHIPMENT 


Why  Do  I  Yawn? 

When  you  yawn,  you  do  so  because 
you  have  not  been  breathing  quite  prop- 
erly and  for  some  reason  or  other  your 
blood  supply  has  not  been  getting  suffi- 
cient oxygen  through  the  air  which  has 
been  taken  into  your  lungs.  Nature's 
way,  in  this  instance,  is  to  call  for  a  big 
intake  of  air  all  at  one  time,  and  since 
it  is  important  at  such  times  that  a 
large  quantity  of  air  should  be  supplied 
to  the  lungs  at  once,  nature  has  so 
arranged  matters  that  certain  muscles 
shall  cause  you  to  open  your  mouth 
wide  and  take  in  as  much  air  as 
you  can  at  one  time,  and  also  has 
arranged  so  that  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  keep  from  yawning  when 
the  demand  for  it  is  once  made..  The 
yawn  is  controlled  by  a  part  of  our 
nerve  structure  which  looks  after  the 
breathing  apparatus. 


The  satisfaction  we  feel  after  a 
wholesome  yawn  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
having  replied  to  nature's  demand  that 
we  bring  in  more  air,  our  blood  secures 
the  oxygen  which  it  needs  and  we  feel 
the  effect  of  better  blood  in  our  arter- 
ies at  once. 

A  peculiar  thing  about  the  process  of 
yawning  is  that  one  person  in  a  room 
yawning  will  quite  likely  set  all  or 
nearly  all  the  others  to  yawning  also. 
There  seems  to  be  no  explanation  of 
this  excepting  that  when  a  number  of 
people  arc  in  one  room  and  one  of  them 
begins  to  yawn,  the  others  do  so,  not 
because  tliey  perceive  the  first  yawn  so 
much  as  the  probable  fact  that  the  air 
in  the  room  has  l)ecotne  so  poor  that 
there  is  not  enough  good  air  for  all 
the  ]HM)plc  in  it,  breathing  normally, 
and  many  of  them  arc  forced  to  yawn 
at  about  the  same  time. 


174 


WHEN    MAN    BEGAN   TO   LIVE 


Where  Do  Living  Things  Come  From? 

This  is  a  big  subject,  but  a  very  in- 
teresting one.  To  understand  it  fully 
we  must  begin  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  world. 

God  made  first  of  all  the  rocks,  the 
mountains,  the  sun,  the  moon,  the 
stars,  the.  soil,  and  put  the  w^ater  in  the 
lakes,  rivers  and  oceans.  This  took  a 
long  time,  but  they  had  to  be  there 
before  the  living  things  could  begin 
to  be. 

What  is  Inorganic  Matter? 

This  thing  we  have  spoken  of  is 
called  inorganic  matter,  wdiich  means 
"without  life,"  and  everything  in  the 
world  which  has  no  life  is  called  inor- 
ganic matter.  These  things  do  not  die, 
and  for  that  reason  do  not  have  to  be 
replaced.  The  form  and  appearance  of 
inorganic  matter  and  its  location  is 
often  changed  by  man  or  other  causes, 
but  even  when  man  burns  the  coal 
which  he  has  dug  up  out  of  the  ground 
in  the  furnace,  no  part  of  it  is  de- 
stroyed. Some  of  it  is  turned  into 
smoke  and  gas  and  some  of  it  is  turned 
into  ashes,  while  every  other  particle 
which  went  to  make  up  the  coal  origi- 
nally is  still  in  existence.  It  remains  as 
inorganic  matter  in  some  form  or  other. 

Where  Did  Life  Begin  on  Earth? 

After  the  inorganic  things  had  been 
made  and  the  earth  was  ready  for  life, 
the  different  kinds  of  living  things 
which  we  find  on  the  earth  began  to 
exist.  These  are  called  organic  objects, 
which  means  objects  "with  life."  The 
first  living  things  to  appear  were  the 
bushes,  the  grass,  the  garden  vege- 
tables, the  flowers,  trees,  and  all  the 
kinds  of  life  which  we  ordinarily  think 
of  as  growing  things. 

This"  division  of  living  things  makes 
up  what  we  call  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
and  in  a  general  way  of  classing  it  is 
the  kind  of  life  which  cannot  move 
about  from  place  to  place  and  which 
has  not  a  sense  of  feeling,  or  any  of  the 
other  senses,  seeing,  hearing,  tasting  or 
smelling. 

After  this  division  of  life  had  been 
estabhshed  the   world   was   ready   for 


the  other  and  more  important  form  of 
life — the  fishes,  the  birds,  cats,  dogs, 
horses,  cows,  with  others  that  we  call 
domestic  animals,  and  also  the  lions, 
tigers,  elephants  and  others  which  con- 
stitute the  division  of  wild  animals. 

This  kind  of  life  was  given  sotne  or 
all  of  the  five  senses,  but  not  all  classes 
of  animal  life  possess  all  these  senses. 
Some  of  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life, 
like  the  oysters,  clams,  in  the  fish  fam- 
ily, cannot  see,  hear,  smell  or  taste. 
They  can  only  feel ;  others  are  able  to 
do  more  of  these  things,  and  many 
have  all  of  the  five  senses. 

When  Did  Man  Begin  to  Live? 

Man  was  not  created  until  all  the 
other  living  things  on  earth  had  been 
started,  and  he  w-as  given  additional 
]jowers  so  that  he  might  become  the 
ruler  of  all  the  other  living  things,  prin- 
cipally because  he  was  given  a  brain 
v;ith  power  to  think,  reason  and  origi- 
nate. 

Why  Must  Life  Be  Reproduced? 

Life  must  be  reproduced  because 
living  things  die.  They  have  power  to 
live  only  for  a  certain  length  of  time. 
The  other  life  in  the  world  is  used 
to  provide  food  for  man,  and  if  there 
were  no  way  of  reproducing  life  it 
would  not  be  long  before  man  had 
eaten  all  the  vegetables  and  the  animals 
too,  and  w^ould  himself  then  starve  to 
death. 

To  avoid  such  a  calamity  God  put 
into  each  living  thing,  both  vegetables 
and  animals,  a  power  to  cause  other 
things  of  the  same  kind  as  itself  to 
grow.  This  is  called  the  power  of  re- 
production. With  this  power  each  kind 
of  living  thing  can  bring  other  speci- 
mens of  the  same  kind  into  the  world 
and  each  kind  of  living  thing  can  do 
this  without  aid  from  any  other  kind 
of  life. 

The  trees,  the  flowers,  and  other 
kinds  of  vegetable  life  would  reproduce 
themselves  without  the  aid  of  man,  as 
would  also  the  fishes  and  other  kinds 
of  animal  life.  Man,  however,  just  to 
have  things  conveniently  at  hand,  uses 
his  power  over  other  life  to  cause  his 


WHY  PLANTS  PRODUCE  SEEDS 


175 


vegetables  to  grow  near  where  he  hves, 
and  keep  the  animals  which  he  wishes 
to  use  as  food  in  some  place  where  he 
doesn't  have  to  hunt  for  them  every 
time  he  wishes  meat  for  his  table.  This, 
however,  he  does  only  with  the  animals 
which  he  has  domesticated  or  tamed. 
When  he  wants  meat  from  the  animals 
which  are  still  wild  he  must  hunt  for 
them  as  he  used  to  do. 

Each  kind  of  life  has  the  power, 
however,  to  reproduce  only  its  own 
kind.  If  you  plant  a  peach  stone  you 
will  sooner  or  later  have  a  peach  tree 
which  will  bear  peaches,  and  these 
peaches  from  the  young  tree  will  look 
and  taste  just  like  the  peach  whose  pit 
or  stone  you  planted.  There  may  be 
other  kinds  of  fruit  trees  all  about, 
and  also  trees  which  do  not  bear  fruit. 
All  of  the  trees  secure  the  food  upon 
which  they  live  and  grow  from  the 
same  soil.  Even  the  grass  under  your 
peach  tree  eats  the  same  things  as  your 
peach  tree,  but  it  remains  always  true 
that  things  in  the  vegetable  kingdom 
will  grow  only  to  be  like  the  thing  from 
which  it  came. 

Have  Plants  Fathers  and  Mothers? 

The  little  trees  grow  up  to  be 
exactly  like  their  fathers  and  mothers 
(for  they  have  fathers  and  mothers), 
which  is  something  all  living  things 
must  have.  These  are  not  the  same 
kind  of  fathers,  or  mothers  either,  that 
a  boy  or  girl  has,  exactly,  but  they  are 
parents  just  the  same.  So  far  as  the 
trees,  flowers  and  plants  arc  concerned 
we  call  the  parents  father  and  mother 
natures,  which  is  a  term  used  merely 
to  keej)  you  from  confusing  vegetable 
life  fathers  and  mothers  with  the  regu- 
lar kind. 

In  the  vegetable  kingdom  you  cannot 
always  see  these  father  and  mother 
natures,  which  enable  them  to  repro- 
duce their  kind  of  life,  but  everything 
in  tiie  vegetable  and  also  in  the  animal 
kingdom  has  tbem. 

How  Do  Plants  Reproduce  Life? 

In  tlie  s])ring  we  ])Ut  seeds  into  the 
ground  and  later  on  jilants  grow  up 
where    the    seeds    were    planted,    and 


later  the  flowers  come.  The  seeds 
contain  the  baby  plants,  which  come 
to  life,  and  after  bursting  the  covering 
of  the  seed,  unfold  and  grow  up  into 
plants  if  placed  in  the  ground,  where 
they  can  obtain  the  proper  amount  of 
warmth  and  moisture  to  give  them  a 
start. 

Why  Do  Plants  Have  Seeds? 

To  get  at  this  subject  in  the  best 
manner  we  must  study  first  how  plants 
produce  seeds  and  what  happens.  The 
power  in  a  plant  to  make  another  plant 
like  it  grow  comes  from  the  flower. 
Ordinarily  we  think  of  the  flowers  as 
beautiful  to  look  at  and  delightful  to 
smell,  but  the  flowers  do  not  grow  for 
the  mere  purpose  of  being  beautiful, 
but  are  for  a  more  useful  pur- 
pose— to  develop  a  seed  which,  when 
planted,  will  produce  another  plant. 
The  machinery  for  producing  a  per- 
fect seed  is  in  the  flower  or  blos- 
som. Every  flower  has  a  definite 
plan  of  construction.  The  leaves  and 
colors  vary,  but  the  plan  for  a  per- 
fect flower  is  always  there.  The  petals 
which  are  generally  colored  are  called 
the  croivn.  When  you  pluck  off  the 
petals  you  see  a  number  of  green  leaves 
at  the  bottom  where  the  petals  were  at- 
tached. These  form  what  is  called 
the  calyx,  and  help  to  hold  the  petals 
in  place.  Inside  the  flower  are  little 
stems  which  grow  to  the  petals.  These 
are  called  stamens.  Every  one  of  these 
little  stems  is  hollow,  and  if  you  split 
one  oi)en  you  will  discover  a  fine  poiv- 
dcr.  This  ])owder  is  called  pollen,  and 
is  the  "father"  nature  of  the  ]ilant.  \n 
the  calyx,  the  part  we  had  left  after 
we  plucked  off  the  petals,  is  the 
"mother"  nature  of  the  plant.  The  main 
part  of  the  mother  nature  is  the  stem 
of  the  flower  called  the  ovary,  and  this 
is  where  the  seeds  grow.  These  seeds 
in  the  ovary,  however,  will  not  become 
]erfect  seeds  unless  some  of  the  ])()llen 
from  ibc  "father"  nature  of  the  plant 
touches  tlieni  and   fertilizes  them. 

At  the  ])roper  age  of  the  flower  some 
of  this  ])()llen  powder  passes  into  the 
ovary  and  frrtilizes  the  seeds  and  makes 
them  good  seeds.    This  is  only  one  kind 


of  flower,  however.  In  this  kind  the 
father  and  mother  natures  are  in  the 
same  flower.  In  other  kinds  of  plants 
the  father  and  mother  natures  are 
found  on  ihfTcrcnt  parts  of  the  same 
])huit. 

Why  Does  an  Ear  of  Corn  Have  Silk? 

riie  corn  plant  is  one  of  this  kind, 
^'ou  know  what  it  looks  like — a  tall 
plant,  generally  six  or  seven  feet  high. 
The  ears  of  corn  grow  out  of  the  side 
of  the  corn  stalk.  The  ear  is  covered 
with  husks  and  out  of  the  end  of  the 
ear  hangs  a  bunch  of  brown  silk 
threads  which  we  term  corn  silk.  Up 
at  the  top  of  the  plant  you  will  see  the 
tassel,  but  you  may  not  have  known 
that  this  is  the  flower  of  the  corn  plant. 
The  tassel  or  flower  in  this  case  con- 
tains the  "father  nature"  of  the  corn 
plant,  and  the  ear  of  corn  contains  the 
"mother  nature."  The  husks  on  the 
outside  of  the  ear  of  corn  protect  the 
grains  of  corn  on  the  ear  inside  and 
keep  them  tender.  The  ear  of  corn  is 
really  the  ovary  of  the  corn  plant,  be- 
cause that  is  where  the  seeds  grow. 
You  will  guess,  of  course,  that  the 
grains  of  corn  on  the  ear  are  but  seeds 
of  the  plant.  Were  you  to  examine 
one  of  these  ears  of  corn  on  the  plant 
when  it  had  just  started  to  form  you 
would  find  no  kernels  on  the  cob,  but 
only  little  marks  which  indicated  where 
the  grains  of  corn  are  expected  to  grow, 
but  if  you  want  to  know,  then,  how 
many  grains  of  corn  were  expected 
to  grow  on  the  ear,  you  could  easily  tell 
by  counting  the  little  silk  threads 
which  you  see  on  the  cob  and  which 
stick  out  over  the  end.  There  will  be 
a  thread  of  silk  for  each  grain  of  corn 
that  is  expected  to  grow. 

Every  grain  of  corn  must  receive 
some  of  the  pollen  powder  from  the 
tassel  or  father  nature  at  the  top  of  the 
corn  i)lant  or  it  will  not  develop  into  a 
nice  large,  juicy  kernel. 

How  Does  the  Pollen  Touch  the  Grain  of 

Corn? 

Before  the  kernels  of  corn  grow  the 
tassel  is  in  bloom.  The  wind  blows 
and  shakes  the  pollen  powder  ofif  of 


the  tassel  and  the  powiler  falls  on  the 
ends  of  the  silk  which  stick  out  of  the 
little  ear  of  corn  to  be.  Each  thread 
of  silk  then  carries  a  little  of  the  pow- 
der down  to  the  spot  on  the  ear  where 
it  is  attached  and  thus  the  grain  of 
corn  receives  the  fertilizing  necessary 
to  develop  it  into  a  ripe  seed.  If  you 
leave  the  ear  of  corn  alone  the  kernel 
will  eventually  become  yellow  and  hard 
and  can  then  be  planted  and  will  pro- 
duce other  corn  plants.  Man,  how- 
ever, finds  the  ear  of  corn  a  delightful 
food,  if  taken  at  a  time  when  the  seeds 
are  fully  grown  but  not  yet  ri])ened  into 
perfect  seeds.  At  this  stage  the  grains 
of  corn  would  not  grow  up  again  if 
jilanted,  because  they  have  not  yet  be- 
come perfect  seeds. 

Do  Father  and  Mother  Plants  Always 

Live  Together? 

We  come  now  to  the  kinds  of  plants 
on  which  the  "father"  and  "mother" 
natures  are  on  difi^erent  plants  of  the 
same  kind.  At  times  they  will  grow 
side  by  side,  at  other  times  they  will  be 
in  the  same  field,  but  very  often  they 
grow  at  quite  a  distance  from  each 
other.  In  some  instances  the  near- 
est father  tree  will  be  even  miles  away 
from  tlie  mother  tree  of  the  same 
kind.  But  in  any  event  the  pollen 
fiom  the  father  nature  must  reach 
the  mother  nature  of  the  plant 
or  tree  before  a  perfect  seed  can 
be  produced.  In  cases  of  this  kind 
the  father  nature  will  be  on  one 
tree  or  plant  and  the  ovary  or  mother 
nature  on  another.  The  wind  helps  out 
nature  in  some  of  these  cases  by  blow- 
ing the  pollen  of  the  father  plant  to 
the  ovary  of  the  mother  plant.  In 
many  other  instances  the  bees  and  in- 
sects help. 

Why  Do  Flowers  Have  Smells? 

\Miere  the  bees  do  this  it  is  because 
the  bee  has  been  visiting  the  flowers 
in  his  search  for  honey.  They  do  not 
fly  from  flower  to  flower  for  the  pur- 
pose of  uniting  the  mother  and  father 
natures  of  plants,  but  they  help  the 
flowers  incidentally  while  getting  the 
honey    for    which   they   are    searching. 


HOW   FISHES   COME  TO   LIFE 


177 


In  gathering  his  honey  the  busy  bee  will 
go  all  over  the  father  flower  and  get 
his  legs  all  covered  with  pollen  pow- 
der. Sooner  or  later  he  comes  to  a 
mother  flower  of  the  same  kind  of  plant 
or  tree  from  which  he  has  father  pol- 
len on  his  legs,  and,  still  bent  on  gath- 
ering honey,  he  incidentally  rubs  the 
pollen  powder  on  to  the  ovary  of  the 
mother  flower  and  the  fertilization 
takes  place.  The  wonderful  thing  about 
this  is  that  the  father  pollen  of  one 
kind  of  a  plant  w-ill  not  fertilize  the 
mother  nature  of  another  kind  of  plant. 
To  illustrate  this,  if  a  bee  carrying 
pollen  on  his  legs  from  a  walnut  blos- 
som visits  the  mother  blossom  of  a 
hickory  tree  the  pollen  of  the  walnut 
\^'Ould  not  affect  the  hickory  blossom, 
but  would  still  have  the  proper  effect 
on  the  first  walnut  mother  blossom  he 
visited. 

This  is  how  life  in  general  is  re- 
produced among  the  plants  and  trees. 
Life  in  the  vegetable  kingdom  has  no 
sense  of  feeling  or  any  of  the  other 
senses,  but  this  kind  of  life  is  still  true 
to  its  own  nature  and  is  a  wise  thing 
in  the  plan  of  creation,  because,  since 
all  seed  will  produce  only  plants  like 
those  from  which  the  seed  came,  man 
can  control  the  growth  of  the  vege- 
tables and  fruits  he  needs  as  food. 
He  knows  when  he  plants  corn  that  he 
will  get  corn  in  return,  because  perfect 
seed  never  makes  a  mistake.  It  would 
mix  things  up  terribly  for  man  if  this 
were  not  so,  because  man  might  then 
plant  one  thing  and  find  another  thing 
growing.  It  would  be  a  sad  thing  to 
plant  wheat  and  find  thistles  growing. 

In  order  that  seeds  may  grow  they 
must  be  planterl  under  conditions  that 
suit  the  kind  of  vegetable  life  in  the 
seed.  Man  has  to  study  and  learn 
what   these  conditions  are. 

If  a  seed  is  planted  too  deeply  the 
sun  may  not  have  a  chance  to  warm 
the  grounrl  to  that  depth,  and  if  it  is 
planted  too  near  the  surface  it  may 
licrome  too  wvirm  and  be  killed  by  the 
^un.  When  planted  unrler  the  proper 
conditions  the  seerl  soon  begins  to  grow. 
It  grows  upward  toward  the  sun  to 
get   light   and   air,   and    it   sends   roots 


down  into  the  ground  to  get  food  and 
moisture. 

The   life   in   the   vegetable   kingdom 
is  soon  able  to  take  care  of  itself. 


How  Are  Fishes  Born? 

The  next  step  in  the  study  of  the 
reproduction  of  life  brings  us  to  the 
animal  kingdom.  The  first  thing  we 
discover  in  this  section  is  that  in  the 
animal  kingdom  father  and  mother  na- 
tures are  almost  always  separated.  In 
plants  and  trees  these  parent  natures 
are  sometimes  in  the  same  flower,  often 
separated,  but  on  the  same  plant,  and  in 
other  instances  on  different  plants 
miles  apart.  What  we  must  remember, 
then,  is  that  in  the  case  of  plants  it  is 
given  more  or  less  to  the  chance  of 
wind  or  other  circumstances  to  bring 
the  parent  natures  together. 

In  the  animal  kingdom  there  are  a 
few  cases  where  the  mother  and  father 
natures  are   found  in  the  same  living 
object,  as  in  the  oyster  and  clam  fami- 
lies, one  of  the  lowest  forms  of  animal 
life.     These  have  but  one  of  the  five 
senses — that  of  feeling.     This  class  of 
animals — the  cold-blooded  animals — in- 
cludes the  fishes,  and  in  most  members 
of  this  class  the  father  and  mother  na- 
tures   are    separated    and    in    dift'erent 
bodies.     Step  by  step  from  now  on  we 
enter  higher  forms  of  animal  life,  and 
tlirough   each   step   we   find   a   greater 
dift'erence     between     the     father     and 
mother  natures,  and  in  the  animal  king- 
dom we  speak  of  the  father  and  mother 
natures  as  "male  and  female."     In  the 
animal    kingdom,    too,    what    we    have 
previously  called  the  seed  is  known  as 
the  egg.     Seeds  and  eggs  are  the  same 
so  far  as  their  usefulness  is  concerned, 
but  we  say  eggs  in  the  animal  kingdom 
to  distinguish  from  seeds  in  the  vege- 
table kingdom. 

I'^ish  have  eggs,  then,  and  it  is  from 
the  eggs  that  little  fish  are  born  into  the 
world  and  grow  to  be  of  eatable  si/c. 
You  recognize  the  eggs  of  the  fish  in 
the  "roe,"  which  is  eaten  as  food.  Not 
all  fish  eggs  are  used  as  food,  however. 
In  the  iish  world  the  eggs  are  de- 
velojx'd  in  the  bodv  of  the  female  fish. 


178 


HOW  BIRDS    LEARN    TO    FLY 


Each  little  round  speck  in  a  "shad  roe" 
is  one  egg,  and  there  are  many  thou- 
sands in  a  single  "roe."  Each  egg  will 
produce  a  little  fish,  under  favorahle 
conditions.  These  eggs  develop  in  the 
body  of  the  female  fish  in  winter.  In 
the  spring,  which  is  the  time  in  which 
most  living  things  are  born,  and,  there- 
fore, the  time  for  hatching  out  fish 
eggs,  all  of  the  fish  swim  from  the  tlccp 
water  where  they  live  in  w'inter  to  the 
places  where  the  water  is  shallow  and 
^^'arm,  and  in  these  shallow  waters  the 
female  fish  expels  the  eggs  from  her 
body  where  the  sun  can  get  at  them 
and  hatch  them  by  warming  them. 
After  the  female  fish  has  thus  laid  the 
eggs,  the  male  fish  swims  over  the  eggs 
as  they  lay  in  the  water,  and  expels 
from  his  body  over  them  a  fluid  which 
is  white  in  appearance  and  which  fer- 
tilizes the  fish  eggs.  If  any  of  this 
fluid  fails  to  reach  some  of  the  eggs 
it  is  not  possible  for  the  sun  to  bring 
them  to  life. 

When  the  eggs  are  laid  and  fertilized 
the  mother  and  father  fishes  swim  away 
and  they  never  see  their  children  or 
recognize  them  as  such,  even  if  they 
meet  them  later  in  life.  The  parent 
fish  do  not  act  like  other  fathers  and 
mothers,  and  they  do  not  need  to,  be- 
cause as  soon  as  a  baby  fish  is  born  he 
is  able  to  find  his  own  food  and  needs 
no  help  from  father  or  mother  to  teach 
him  how  to  find  it  or  enable  him  to 
grow  into  a  real  fish. 

Of  course,  many  of  the  tiny  fish  are 
eaten  by  other  fish  and  not  all  the  eggs 
which  the  mother  fishes  lay  hatch  into 
live  fish,  because,  if  they  did,  the 
waters  would  be  so  crowded  WMth  fish 
tl-.at  there  would  not  be  any  room  for 
the  water.  A  single  female  fish  will 
lay  millions  of  eggs  in  a  year,  and  if 
each  egg  developed  into  a  fish  there 
would  be  far  too  many. 

This  order  of  animals,  which  includes 
turtles,  frogs,  etc..  is  the  cold-blooded 
class  of  animal  life.  They  have  only 
part  of  the  five  senses.  They  all  can 
feel  and  some  of  the  fishes  can  see  and 
hear,  but  a  great  many  of  them,  par- 
ticularly those  kinds  which  live  on  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean,  cannot  either  see 


or  hear,  and  some  members  of  the  fish 
family  cannot  even  swim. 

The  thing  to  remember  about  fishes 
in  connection  with  the  reproduction  of 
life  is  that  the  mother  fish  must  select 
a  place  which  is  favorable  to  deposit 
the  eggs,  but  after  that  her  responsi- 
bility ceases.  The  father  merely  fer- 
tilizes the  eggs,  and  then  his  responsi- 
])ility  ceases.  The  little  fish  look  out 
for  themselves  as  soon  as  they  are  born 
and  never  know  what  it  is  to  have  a 
father  or  mother  to  look  after  them. 

When  we  study  the  next  higher  form 
of  animal  life  we  find  that  the  young 
ones  have  to  be  looked  after,  and  that 
this  becomes  more  necessary  as  we 
ascend  the  scale  of  animal  life  until  we 
reach  man,  the  most  intelligent  of  all 
animals  and  yet  the  most  helpless  of 
all  at  birth. 

How  Birds  Are  Taught  to  Fly. 

The  next  step  brings  us  to  the  birds. 
Before  they  can  look  after  themselves 
the  little  birds  must  learn  how  to  search 
for  food  and  the  kinds  of  food  good 
for  them.  They  have  to  learn  the 
habits  of  their  kind  of  life.  The  higher 
you  go  in  the  study  of  animal  life  the 
greater  seem  to  be  the  dangers  which 
surround  the  young  animals  and  the 
longer  it  takes  to  teach  them  how  to 
look  after  themselves  and  what  to  do 
for  themselves. 

The  bird  family  includes  not  only  the 
robins,  larks,  sparrows  and  pigeons,  but 
also  the  ducks,  geese,  and  chickens,  etc. 
W^e  are  all  more  or  less  familiar  with 
birds'  eggs,  and  if  not  we  know  what  a 
hen's  egg  looks  like.  The  eggs  of  the 
bird  family  are  laid  in  nests,  which  is 
the  first  sign  of  home  building  in  the 
animal  kingdom. 

The  birds  are  the  first  of  the  large 
class  of  warm-blooded  animals.  The 
egg  here  represents  again  the  reproduc- 
tive power.  The  eggs,  too,  form  in 
the  body  of  the  female  bird,  but  are 
laid  in  a  nest  which  the  parent  birds 
build  together.  Now  this  is  the  first 
step  away  from  the  fish  family.  The 
fish  looks  for  a  suitable  place  to  lay  the 
eggs  and  then  goes  ofif  and  leaves  them. 


WHAT  MAKES  THE  HOLLOW  PLACE  IN  A  BOILED  EGG?     179 


The  birds,  however,  have  to  make  a 
nest  in  which  to  deposit  the  eggs.  The 
fish,  as  you  remember,  depended  upon 
the  warm  sun  shining  on  the  shallow 
water  to  hatch  out  the  eggs,  thus  de- 
pending on  an  outside  force  to  supply 
the  necessary  warmth.  In  the  bird 
family  the  mother  bird  must  cover  the 
eggs  with  her  own  body  and  keep  them 
warm  until  they  hatch  out.  Then,  too, 
the  father  and  mother  birds  feed  the 
young  until  they  are  strong  enough  to 
fly  and  find  food  for  themselves,  and 
so  the  mother  and  father  birds  look 
after  their  babies  until  they  are  old 
enough  to  look  after  themselves.  When 
this  time  arrives  the  old  birds  cease  to 
bother  about  the  young  ones  altogether. 
The  fishes  never  act  like  parents  after 
the  baby  fishes  are  born,  because  the 
little  fish  are  able  to  look  after  them- 
selves right  away.  The  parent  birds 
are  a  good  deal  like  fathers  and  mothers 
for  a  time,  but  only  so  long  as  it  takes 
them  to  teach  their  little  bird  children 
to  look  out  for  themselves.  Then  they 
forget  the  children  completely. 

It  requires  but  a  few  days  and  no  pa- 
rental care  to  hatch  out  a  family  of 
baby  fishes  and  no  attention  at  all  after 
birth.  It  requires  several  weeks  and 
much  patience  for  the  parent  birds  to 
hatch  out  their  eggs,  and  it  involves 
care  and  attention  for  several  weeks  to 
teach  baby  birds  to  take  care  of  them- 
selves. 

This  being  a  father  or  mother  in  the 
animal  kingdom  becomes  a  greater  re- 
sponsil)ility  in  every  step  as  we  get 
closer  to  man,  and  when  we  reach  man 
we  find  him  to  be  the  most  helpless 
oflfspring  of  all  at  birth,  and  that  it 
takes  more  time,  care  and  attention  to 
bring  up  a  human  child  to  maturity 
than  any  other  animal. 

What  Makes  the  Hollow  Place  at  One 
End  of  a  Boiled  Egg? 

This  hollow  place  on  the  end  of  the 
boiled  egg  (sometimes  it  shows  on  the 
side)  is  the  air  which  is  jait  inside  of 
the  egg  when  it  is  formed  so  that  the 
little  chicken  will  have  air  to  breathe 
from  the  time  it  comes  to  life  within 


the  egg  until  it  becomes  strong  enough 
to  break  the  shell  and  go  out  into  the 
world.  There  is  also  food  in  the  egg 
for  him.  When  you  boil  the  egg  this 
pocket  of  air  within  the  shell,  which 
would  have  been  used  up  by  the  chick 
if  the  egg  had  been  set  to  hatch  instead 
of  being  cooked  for  breakfast,  begins 
to  fight  for  its  space  and  pushes  the 
boiling  egg  back  and  forms  the  hollow 
place. 

The  purpose  of  the  air  in  the  egg 
is  a  good  thing  to  remember  when  we 
come  to  study  the  higher  forms  of  ani- 
mal life  from  the  standpoint  of  how 
they  reproduce  themselves. 

The  mammals  are  the  next  higher 
form  of  animals.  The  babies  of  this 
class  of  animals  must  be  fed  for  sev- 
eral weeks  or  months  before  they  are 
ready  to  come  into  the  world. 

A  little  chicken  is  ready  to  come  out 
of  the  egg  almost  as  soon  as  it  comes 
to  Hfe,  and,  therefore,  needs  only  a 
httle  air  and  food  before  it  is  strong 
enough  to  peck  its  way  out,  but  the 
babies  of  mammals  begin  to  live  months 
before  they  are  ready  to  come  into  the 
world,  and  they  need  a  great  deal  of 
air  and  food  during  this  time.  This 
class  includes  the  dogs,  horses,  cows, 
cats  and  all  other  animals  in  the  Zoo 
and  in  the  woods.  The  name  mammals 
means  the  same  as  "mamma,"  and  in- 
dicates an  animal  which  must  be  fed 
from  the  body  of  a  female  mammal 
even  after  it  is  born. 

In  this  class  the  eggs  are  retained 
within  the  body  of  the  female  animal 
instead  of  being  laid  in  a  nest  or  some 
other  place,  as  in  animals  of  lower 
classes,  after  being  fertilized  by  the 
male  animal,  so  that  the  baby  animal 
may  secure  its  food  and  air  from  within 
the  mother's  body  after  the  life  within 
the  egg  is  begun. 

The  mother's  body  supplies  the  neces- 
sary warmth  to  devcloji  the  life  of  the 
little  animal  in  the  egg,  just  as  the 
birds  supplied  this  with  their  bodies. 
In  the  bird  class  it  only  takes  a  few 
hours  to  give  the  little  bird  sufficient 
strength  to  peck  his  way  out,  but  in 
the  mammal  class  it  is  a  long  time  be- 
fore the  l)al)y  animal  is  strong  enough 


180 


IS    A\AN    AN    ANIA\AL? 


to  come  out  into  the  world,  ami  oven 
after  it  is  born  the  babies  of  niaiunials 
require  a  great  deal  of  care  and  atten- 
tion before  they  are  able  to  look  out 
for  themselves.  During  this  period  the 
animal  secures  all  of  its  food  from  the 
breast  of  the  mother  animal. 

Another  reason  why  the  eggs  of 
mammals  are  retained  within  the  bodies 
of  the  females  is  the  need  for  ])rotect- 
ing  the  young  animals  from  enemies. 
In  the  animal  kingdom  each  kind  of 
animal  preys  upon  another  kind.  They 
attack  and  devour  each  other  and  are 
constantly  in  danger.  If,  then,  mam- 
n-'als  laid  eggs  in  nests  and  sat  upon 
them  to  hatch  them  out,  the  mother 
animals  sitting  on  the  nests  would  be 
continually  in  danger  of  attack  from 
their  enemies.  They  would  either  have 
to  flee  and  subject  the  nest  and  its  con- 
tents to  the  danger  of  destruction  or 
else  stay  and  fight,  and  perhaps  be  de- 
stroyed. But  by  carrying  her  eg;i^  with- 
in her  body  the  mother  mammal  is  able 
to  move  about  from  place  to  place  and 
protect  her  baby. 


Is  Man  an  Animal? 

Men,  women  and  children  belong  to 
the  "mammal" class  of  animals.  The  off- 
spring of  the  human  family  is  the  most 
helpless  of  all  animals  at  birth.  The 
young  of  most  kinds  of  mammals  can 
stand"  on  their  legs  shortly  after  being 
born,  but  the  human  baby  requires 
n-.onths  before  it  can  stand  up.  A 
baby  horse  can  also  walk  within  a  few 
hours,  but  human  children  do  not  begin 
to  walk  until  they  are  more  than  a 
year  old. 


Why  Cannot  Babies  Walk  as  Soon  as 
Born? 

The  human  baby  has  a  great  many 
more  things  to  learn  than  a  horse  baby 
before  it  is  safe  for  him  to  go  about 
alone.  It  takes  time  for  the  brain  to 
develop,  and  if  a  baby  could  walk  be- 
fore the  brain  had  even  partiallv  de- 
veloped it  w^ould  only  get  into  trouble. 

This,  then,  is  what  we  have  learned 


al)Out  liic  rcj^roduclion  of  life  and  the 
reasons  for  its  being  different  in  dif- 
ferent classes  of  life,  l^'irst,  we  had 
the  division  of  organic  life  into  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms.  Life 
in  the  vegetable  kingdom  has  none  of 
the  Jive  senses,  for  plants  cannot  see, 
hear,  feel,  smell  or  taste.  They  camiot 
move  from  place  to  place,  but  remain 
where  they  grow  until  destroyed  or  re- 
moved. ( )n  tiie  other  hand,  all  animal 
life  has  at  least  one  of  the  live  senses — 
f(.eling.  The  oysters  and  clams  belon.g 
to  this  class.  Starting  with  this  level 
of  life  in  the  animal  kingdom  we  find 
that  as  we  go  on  up  through  the  dif- 
ferent classes  we  find  each  class  able  to 
do  things  which  make  it  superior  to  the 
class  below  it,  until  we  reach  the 
human  mammal,  who  can  do  most  of 
all.  And,  further,  that  since  each 
class  as  we  go  up  in  the  scale 
of  life  has  greater  ability  to  do 
things  than  the  class  beneath  it,  so 
in  each  case  the  task  of  the  parents 
in  preparing  their  offspring  for  their 
kind  of  life  becomes  greater,  and  the 
period  during  which  the  offspring  is 
learning  becomes  longer  and  longer 
until  we  reach  the  human  family,  in 
which  we  find  that  parents  have  the 
greatest  responsibility,  and  the  children 
are  the  most  helpless  of  all  animals, 
but  that  in  the  final  result  man  has  a 
right,  on  account  of  his  superior  qual- 
ities, to  be  the  ruler  of  the  other  crea- 
tures of  the  world. 


What  Are  Ball  Bearings? 

Some  years  ago  a  gentleman  in  try- 
ing to  find  some  way  to  reduce  the 
friction,  which  is  constantly  developed 
to  a  certain  extent,  even  when  the 
axle  is  oiled,  discovered  that  if  be- 
tween the  axle  and  the  inside  of  the 
hub  a  circle  of  steel  balls  were  ar- 
ranged, so  that  the  hub  of  the  wheel 
did  not  touch  the  axle  at  all,  but  rested 
on  the  little  balls  which  in  their  turn 
touched  the  axle,  that  a  great  deal  of 
the  friction  was  eliminated.  This 
j^roved  to  be  a  wonderful  invention, 
and  when  this  combination  is  arranged 
and  oiled,  there  is  harrlly  any  friction. 


WHAT  MAKES  A   GASOLINE   ENGINE   GO 


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THE    BEGINNING   OF  AN   AUTOMOBILE 


183 


CRANKCASE     SHOWING     BEAR- 
INGS. 

The  heart  of  the  automo- 
bile is  the  engine.  It  is 
built  around  the  crankcase, 
which  is  its  foundation  or 
base. 


CRANKCASE  WITH  CRANK- 
SHAFT AND  FLY-WHEEL 
ADDED. 

The  crankshaft  serves  the 
same  purpose  in  an  auto- 
mobile as  the  pedals  do  on 
a  bicycle. 

The  fly-wheel  on  the  end 
helps  it  to  keep  turning  at 
an  even  speed. 


Gasoline  vapor  is  exploded  in  the  cylinders.  This  pushes 
the  piston  down,  and  as  the  piston  is  connected  to  the 
crankshaft   it   starts  the   crankshaft  turning. 

The  piston  and  the  rod  that  connect  it  to  the  crankshaft 
are  just  like  the  feet  and  limbs  of  any  one  riding  a  bicycle. 


Cylinders  showing  piston  in  place  and  connected  to  crankshaft. 


The  gears  or  "cog- 
wheels" are  for  running  the 
fan,  the  pump  and  other 
parts. 


184 


THE   HEART  OF   THE  AUTOMOBILE 


The  cylinders  are  next 
bolted  down  to  the  crank- 
case,  the  pistons  and  crank- 
shaft Iiaving  been  con- 
nected, as  shown  in  Fig.  3. 
A  cover  is  placed  over  the 
gears  to  keep  them  clean. 


Cylinder    added   to   crank- 
case. 


An  oil  pan  or  reservoir 
is  attached  to  the  bottom  of 
the  crankcase  to  hold  oil 
for   the   engine. 


The  carburetor  furnishes 
the  gasoline  vapor  for  the 
cylinders.  It  is  connected 
to  the  engine  by  a  crooked 
pipe  called  the  intake  mani- 
fold. 

After  the  gasoline  has 
been  exploded  a  valve  opens 
and  allows  the  burned  gases 
to  escape  through  another 
])ipe,  called  the  exhaust 
manifold. 


Oil  is  poured  in  the  spout 
which  is  at  the  left  of  the 
carburetor.  It  runs  down 
into  the  reservoir  and  is 
pumped  up  through  the 
engine  a  little  at  a  time. 


Oil    pump   and    tiller    added  to   motor. 


THE  POWER  PLANT  OF  AN   AUTOMOBILE 


185 


The  electric  generator 
makes  electricity  to  be  used 
for  starting  the  engine  and 
lighting  the  car. 


The  magneto  gives  an 
electric  spark,  which  ex- 
plodes the  gasoline  in  the 
cylinders. 


The  water  pump  keeps  water  flowing  around  the  cylinders  to  prevent  them  from 
getting  too  hot.  This  water  comes  back  to  the  pump  through  the  radiator  at  the  front 
of  the  car.  Wind  blows  through  the  radiator  and  cools  off  the  water.  The  tire  pump 
on  up-to-date  cars  is  run  by  the  engine.  It  does  not  pump  except  when  the  gears,  which 
are  shown  in  the  picture,  are  pulled  together. 


An  electric  motor  starts 
the  engine  by  turning  the 
lly-wheil.  Tliis  makt-s  it 
umu'ccssary  to  get  out  and 
crank  the  car  by  hand. 


186 


SECOND   STAGE   OF   CONSTRUCTION 


The  transmission  is   added. 

The  transmission  makes  it  possible  to  reverse  the  car.  It  also  enables  the  driver 
to  go  into  high-speed  gear  when  on  level  roads  and  low-speed  gear  for  starting  and  for 
pulling    hills. 


Double-drop   pressed    steel    frame. 
The  frame  on  which  the  car  is  built. 


Addition  of  semi-elliptic  and  three-fourths-elliptic  springs  to  frame. 


Large   springs  are  placed   at  the   front  and   rear   of  the   frame.     They  make   the   car 
ride   smoothlj\ 


Adding  the   front  axle. 


READY   FOR  THE  WHEELS 


187 


Showing   addition   of    full-floating   rear   axle. 


Completed   engine   and   transmission   is   next   fastened   to   the    frame   and   connected   to 
the   rear   axle  by  the   drive   shaft. 


Showinj?    addition    of    gasoline    tank   and    gas    lead    to    carburetor. 


Showing  how    steering   gear    is   connected. 


188  WHAT   THE   COMPLETED   CHASSIS   LOOKS   LIKE 


Completed    chassis    with    radiator    added. 


The  water  which  keeps  the  engine  from  getting  too  hot  is  pumped  around  the 
cylinders  and  then  through  the  radiator.  The  wind  blows  through  the  little  openings 
in  the  radiator,  and  cools  oflf  the  water.  Then  the  water  is  pumped  around  the  cylinders 
again. 


The  steps  and  fenders  are  next  attached. 


THE   MARVELLOUS   GROWTH   OF  TWENTY  YEARS 


189 


The  first  American-built 
automobile,  now  in  Smith- 
sonian Institute,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C,  where  this  photo- 
graph was  taken.  The  rude 
carriage  that  was  a  curi- 
osity twenty  years  ago  and 
less — the  vehicle  that  vied 
with  the  two-headed  calf 
and  the  wild  man  of  Borneo 
at  the  county  fairs — was 
the  beginning  of  the  great- 
est transportation  aid  since 
the  birth  of  civilization. 
Because  of  it  our  standards 
of  living  have  become 
higher.  It  has  broadened 
the  horizon  of  all  of  us. 


GASOLINE    AUTOMOBILE. 

Built  by  Elwood  Haynes,  in  KoVcomo,  Indiana,  1893-1894. 
Equipped  with  one-horse-power  engine.  Successful  trial  trip 
made  at  speed  of  six  or  seven  miles  an  hour,  July  4,  1894. 
Gift  of  Elwood  Haynes,  1910.     262,135. 


WIkm    ,11)    .lutomobilc   passed    you   twenty   years   aRn. 


190 


HOW  AUTOMOBILES  HAVE   IMPROVED 


LEFT    SIDE      VIEW 


RIGHT    SIDE    VIEW 


A  new  exhibit  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute,  officially  known  as  "Exhibit  Number  56,860,"  is  attract- 
ing a  great  deal  of  attention  from  visitors  to  the  National  Museum.  It  consists  of  a  complete  Haynes 
six-cylinder  unit  power  plant,  and  has  been  given  a  position  at  the  side  of  the  original  Haynes  "horse- 
less carriage,"  where  the  striking  contrast  shows  the  remarkable  improvement  that  has  been  made  in 
motor    design    and    construction    during    the    past    twenty-two    years. 

The  most  important  features  of  the  power  plant  are  shown  clearly  and  comprehensively  by  having 
sections  cut  away  from  the  various  parts,  so  that  the  visitors  to  the  Institute  are  enabled  to  see  the 
mechanical    construction,    and    the    relation    of    the    component    devices. 

On  the  right  side  of  the  engine,  the  intake  and  exhaust  manifolds  are  shown  in  their  natural 
position.  A  full  vertical  section  of  the  Stromherg  carburetor  gives  a  good  idea  of  how  the  gasoline 
IS  mixed  with  the  air  and  supplied  to  the  cylinders.  The  Leece-Neville  generator  has  its  casing  cut 
away  to  give  a  view  ot  the  windings  and  cores.  Numerous  windows  have  been  cut  into  the  crankcase 
to  disclose  the  crankshaft  construction  and  the  oil  reservoir.  The  transmission  gears  are  also  shown 
in    this    manner. 

Most  of  the  electrical  equipment  is  shown  clearly  on  the  left  side  of  the  motor.  Here  an  interesting 
feature  is  the  full  vertical  section  of  the  American  Simms  high-tension  dual  magneto.  A  half  section 
has  been  removed  from  the  rear  cylinder,  and  the  piston  as  well,  to  give  a  glimpse  of  the  interior 
constiuction.  A  large  portion  of  the  Leece-Neville  starting  motor  casing  has  been  cut  away.  The 
cover-plate  on  the  switch  controlling  the  starting  motor  has  been  replaced  with  a  glass  cover  to  display 
the  method  of  completing  the  circuit  from  the  battery  to  the  motor.  A  skeleton  selector  switch  is 
mounted  at  the  rear  of  the  transmission  case,  instead  of  its  usual  position  on  the  steering  wheel.  The 
electric  gear-shifting  mechanism  is  madt  visible  by  using  a  glass  plate  for  the  top  cover-plate  on  the 
transmission. 


Why  Does  the  Heart  Beat  When  the 
Brain  Is  Asleep? 

Under  ordinary  conditions  the  heart 
beats  are  controlled  by  certain  nerve 
cells  which  are  located  within  the  heart 
itself,  and  these  cause  the  heart  to  beat 
even  while  the  brain  is  asleep.  This 
explains  why  the  heart  beats  when  the 
brain  is  asleep,  and  the  fact  that  the 
brain  when  asleep  does  not  exercise  its 
functions,  shows  how  necessary  this 
arrangement  and  the  control  of  ordi- 
nary heart  beats  is.  If  this  were  not 
so,  we  should  not  be  able  to  live  while 
asleep.  It  is  just  like  the  management 
of  a  great  business  in  this  sense.  The 
general  manager  of  a  great  business  has 
control  of  the  entire  works,  but  there 
iire  occasions  when  he  must  be  thinking 
of  only  one  thing  in  connection  with  the 
business,  and  so  he  must  have  his  or- 
ganization so  complete,  that  the  parts 
which  he  cannot  be  thinking  about  at 
the  time  will  do  their  work  just  the 
same.  So  he  surrounds  himself  with 
competent  assistants,  who  look  after 
certain  departments  while  he  is  busy 
or  away  or  asleep,  and  if  anything  goes 
wrong  while  he  is  away,  he  calls  on  spe- 
cial forces  to  set  things  right.  Now, 
the  brain  is  the  general  manager  of  the 
whole  body  and  has  these  nerve  cells 
in  the  heart  as  a  sort  of  assistant  man- 
ager to  look  after  the  heart  beats  in 
ordinary  conditions,  and  to  keep  the 
heart  going  while  he  is  asleep.  But,  by 
reason  of  his  office  as  general  manager, 
the  brain  has  a  special  way  of  sending 
orders  to  the  heart  through  special 
nerves  which  run  from  the  brain  down 
each  side  of  the  neck  to  the  heart.  There 
are  two  pairs  of  these  special  nerves. 
One  pair,  if  set  in  motion,  will  make 
the  heart  beat  faster,  and  the  other  pair 
will  make  the  heart  beat  more  slowly. 

Why  Do  Our  Hearts  Beat  Faster  When 
We  Are  Running? 

Wiien  you  start  running,  the  brain 
knows  at  once  that  your  legs  and  other 
j)arts  of  the  body  will  need  more  blood 
to  keep  them  going,  and  so  the  brain 
sends  down  orders  through  his  special 
nerves    which    make    the    licarl     beat 


faster,  to  get  busy,  and  they  do.  Then 
when  you  stop  ruiming,  your  heart  is 
beating  faster  than  necessary — there  is 
really  an  oversupply  of  blood  being 
pumped  through  your  system  for  the 
time  being,  and  that  makes  you  uncom- 
fortable, until  the  brain  sends  word 
through  the  other  set  of  nerves  to  the 
heart  to  slow  down  the  heart  beat.  It 
is  better  to  stop  running  gradually,  to- 
give  the  heart  a  chance  to  get  back  to 
its  normal  beat  gradually  also. 

Why  Do  I   Get   Out   of  Breath  When 

Running  I 

This  is  also  caused  by  your  brain  in 
its  efforts  to  keep  up  your  supply  of 
good  blood.  We  breathe  to  take  air 
into  the  lungs,  where  the  blood  which 
has  once  been  through  the  arteries  and 
comes  back  on  its  return  trip  to  the 
heart,  is  exposed  to  the  air  in  the  lungs, 
before  going  back  into  the  heart.  The 
air  which  we  take  into  our  lungs  puri- 
fies the  once  used  blood  and  makes  it 
into  good  blood  again.  When  you  run 
the  heart  pumps  blood  into  your  ar- 
teries faster  to  enable  you  to  run.  Thus 
also,  the  arteries  send  much  more  blood 
back  to  the  heart  through  the  veins,  and 
this  must  be  purified  by  the  lungs  be- 
fore going  back  into  the  heart.  To  at- 
tend to  purifying  this  extra  amount  of 
spoiled  blood  the  lungs  need  more  air, 
and  thus  you  are  made  to  breathe  in 
more  air  for  the  purpose.  Unless  you 
are  in  good  training — your  wind  in 
good  condition  as  we  say — it  is  almost 
impossible  for  you  to  supply  the  lungs 
with  enough  air  for  the  purpose,  but 
whether  you  can  do  it  or  not,  the  lungs 
call  upon  you  for  more  air,  and  cause 
you  to  try  to  get  it,  and  that  is  what 
makes  you  get  out  of  breath. 

Why  Does  My  Heart  Beat  Faster  When 
I  Am  Scared? 

The  natural  tendency  of  a  scared 
creature  is  to  run  or  fly.  The  effect  of 
being  scared  has  the  same  effect  on  the 
brain  that  your  starling  to  run  has.  The 
brain  is  always  as  <|uick  as  you  are,  and 
knowing  that  when  you  are  scared  your 
actual  or  natural  inclination  is  to  run. 
it  is  merely  getting  you  in  shape  so  that 
you  can  move  or  run   fast. 


192 


WHAT  MAKES  US  RED  IN  THE  FACE 


Why  Does  Cold  Make  Our  Hands  Blue? 

Your  hands  a])ix"ar  blue  when  cold 
because  the  veins  which  are  near  the 
surface  are  filled  with  impure  blood 
which  is  iJurjilish  in  color.  Your  hands 
become  cold  because  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient circulation  of  warm  red  blood  go- 
ing on  to  keep  them  warm.  The  blood 
in  circulating  through  your  body  sends 
warm  red  blood  through  the  arteries, 
and  this  is  returned  to  the  heart 
tlirough  the  lungs  by  way  of  the  veins. 
Tlie  veins  carry  only  used-uj)  blood  or 
what  is  left  of  the  good  red  blood  when 
the  arteries  are  through  with  it.  Its 
color  is  a  purplish  blue. 

When  your  hands  are  blue  it  means 
that  circulation  of  good  red  blood  has 
practically  stopped — the  red  blood  is  not 
flowing  from  the  heart  through  the  ar- 
teries in  sufficient  quantity  and  there 
is  no  color  in  the  arteries,  as  the  blood 
from  the  arteries  has  practically  all 
gone  into  the  veins.  The  veins  are  full 
to  purplish  blue  blood,  and  this  makes 
the  hands  look  blue,  because  there  are 
a  great  many  veins  in  the  hands  close 
to  the  surface. 

Why  Do  I  Get  Red  in  the  Face? 

Now,  when  you  rub  your  cold  blue 
hands  together,  you  start  the  circulation 
going  again,  and  that  brings  the  red 
blood  into  the  arteries,  giving  you  the 
healthy  red  color  again.  When  you  run 
hard  to  get  red  in  the  face  because 
you  are  causing  an  unusual  amount  of 
red  blood  to  flow  through  your  whole 
body  by  your  violent  exercise.  Some 
people  with  an  extraordinary  amount  of 
circulation  are  red  in  the  face  all  the 
time.  This  is  because  of  the  presence 
of  a  great  deal  of  blood  in  the  arteries, 
or  because  the  walls  of  their  arteries 
are  so  much  thinner  than  others  that 
the  red  blood  shows  through  more 
easily. 

Is  Yawning  Infectious? 

Yawning  is  infectious  to  the  extent 
that  other  habits  are.  The  desire  to 
yawn  which  comes  to  us  when  we  see 
some  one  else  does  so  comes  under  the 


heaihng  of  suggestion.  The  power  of 
suggestion  is  greater  than  many  of  us 
realize.  We  are  great  imitators  of  each 
other.  When  one  of  us  is  down- 
hearted, we  are  apt  to  become  happy 
and  glad  simply  by  being  with  other 
people  who  are  hai)i)y  and  glad.  If 
enough  i)eople  one  at  a  time  tell  a  per- 
fectly well  man  that  he  looks  sick,  he 
will  actually  feel  ill,  provided  he  does 
not  suspect  a  game  is  being  played  on 
him.  So  a  good  actor  carries  his  audi- 
ence with  him.  He  can  make  them 
laugh  or  cry  almost  at  will,  and  if  he 
yawns,  his  audience  will  begin  yawning. 
Often,  however,  there  is  no  acting 
connected  with  the  yawning  of  the  first 
person.  Then  the  yawn  is  caused  be- 
cause the  person  is  not  sending  enough 
good  air  into  the  lungs  for  purifying 
the  blood,  and  the  yawn  is  only  nature's 
way  of  making  us  take  an  exception- 
ally deep  breath  of  air  in  at  one  time. 
This  lack  of  sufficient  good  air  in  the 
lungs  may  not  be  due  to  the  poor 
breathing,  but  to  the  amount  of  bad  air 
in  the  room.  In  such  cases  it  is  quite 
likely  that  other  people,  in  the  room 
yawn  when  one  of  them  starts  it  be- 
cause they  all  begin  to  feel  the  need  of 
more  good  air  at  about  the  same  time. 

What  Makes  Me  Want  to  Stretch? 

The  necessity  or  desire  to  stretch 
comes  to  us  because  certain  parts  of  the 
body  are  not  receiving  the  proper 
amount  of  blood  circulation  and  it  is 
these  parts  that  we  stretch  at  such 
times.  If  you  have  ever  been  to  a  ball 
game,  you  know,  of  course,  that  it  has 
become  customary  for  the  crowd,  no 
matter  how  large,  to  stretch  its  legs 
and  arms  during  the  last  half  of  the 
seventh  inning.  In  fact,  that  has  come 
to  be  a  fixture  at  ball  games  and  is  uni- 
versally known  as  the  "stretch  inning." 
Now,  it  is  not  so  much  the  result  of  a 
desire  to  encourage  the  home  team  as 
the  natural  following  out  of  nature's 
laws  that  originally  started  this  prac- 
tice. The  end  of  the  seventh  inning  at 
a  ball  game  generally  means  that  the 
crowd  has  been  sitting  quite  still  for 
the  greater  part  of  an  hour  and  a  half. 


WHAT  HAPPENS  WHEN  WE  STRETCH 


193 


just  long  enough  for  the  circulation  to 
become  poor  in  parts  of  the  body,  and 
the  custom  of  stretching  at  a  ball  game 
thus  comes  from  the  necessity  of  get- 
ting a  little  more  speed  into  the  action 
of  the  heart  to  increase  the  blood 
supply. 

In  other  words,  the  stretching  con- 
stitutes a  mild  form  of  exercise.  You 
will  notice  the  ball  players  themselves 
do  not  stretch  themselves  in  the  last 
half  of  the  seventh  inning.  They  are 
getting   enough   exercise   without  that. 

It  is  natural,  however,  for  us  to 
stretch  as  we  wake  up  from  sleep  after 
having  lain  quietly  in  one  position  for 
one  or  more  hours.  It  is  nature's  way 
of  causing  the  heart  to  work  faster. 

What  Happens  When  I  Stretch? 

What  happens  is  simply  this.  Wlien 
you  stretch  your  arms  and  legs,  you 
squeeze  the  arteries  and  veins  which 
are  a  part  of  your  arms  and  legs,  much 
as  happens  when  you  pull  on  a  piece  of 
rubber  tubing.  The  tubing  becomes  flat 
instead  of  perfectly  round,  and  it  is  not 
so  easy  to  send  water  through  a  flat 
tube  as  through  a  round  one.  Just  so 
with  the  heart.  It  is  the  heart's  busi- 
ness to  send  blood  through  the  arteries 
at  all  times,  and  when  you  make  them 
flat  the  heart's  job  becomes  just  a  lit- 
tle harder,  and  it  goes  to  work  beating 
just  a  little  faster  to  overcome  this  extra 
difficulty.  By  that  time  you  are  through 
stretching  and  the  heart  is  busy  pump- 
ing blood  a  little  faster  than  ordinarily, 
and  that  is  what  makes  you  feel  so 
good  after  you  have  stretched. 

Why  Can  We  Think  of  Only  One  Thing 
at  a  Time? 

If  you  are  asking  the  question  intel- 
ligently, you  must  know  that  to  think 
means  to  concentrate,  and  in  that  sense 
we  can  only  think  of  one  thing  at  a 
time,  because  it  takes  all  of  that  part  of 
the  brain  which  is  used  for  thinking  for 
just  one  thing.  To  give  close  atten- 
tion to  any  one  subject  means  to  turn 
the  entire  brain  force  practically  in  one 
direction.  To  let  f)ther  things  pass 
thrf)Ugh  the  minrl  at  the  same  time  may 


appear  not  to  interfere  with  the  one 
tliought,  but  they  do,  and  our  conclu- 
sions suffer  accordingly. 

You  can  be  doing  something  with 
one  part  of  your  body,  while  engaged  in 
thinking  of  one  thing,  but  only  such 
things  as  are  more  or  less  mechanical 
as  the  result  of  habit,  such  as  walking, 
or  moving  the  arms — things  which  the 
parts  have  done  so  often  that  actual 
attention  by  the  brain  is  not  absolutely 
essential.  Take  for  instance,  the  fact 
that  a  man  in  deep  thought  on  one  sub- 
ject will  sometimes  walk  up  and  down 
the  room  or  along  the  sidewalk.  He 
can  do  this  walking  and  still  think  con- 
centratedly,  but  if  he  stubs  his  toe  on 
the  leg  of  a  chair  or  on  a  rough  place  in 
the  walk,  his  thought  is  broken,  because 
the  brain  immediately  takes  itself  out 
of  the  thought  and  pays  its  attention  to 
the  toe  that  was  stubbed. 

Why  Do  I  Turn  White  When  Scared? 

Simply  because,  when  you  are  scared 
or  frightened,  the  blood  almost  leaves 
your  face  entirely.  Under  normal  con- 
ditions, the  red  blood  which  is  flowing 
through  the  arteries  of  your  face,  gives 
the  face  a  reddish  tinge,  and  your  face 
becomes  white  when  you  are  frightened, 
because  then  the  blood  leaves  the  face. 
It  is  quite  singular,  but  when  you  are 
really  frightened,  whatever  the  cause 
may  be,  the  human  system  receives  such 
a  shock  that  the  heart  just  about  stops 
beating  all  together.  When  your  heart 
stops  beating  of  course  the  flow  of  the 
blood  from  the  heart  stops  and  then 
there  is  no  supply  of  fresh  red  blood 
coming  through  the  arteries  under  the 
skin  of  your  face.  Therefore  you  look 
white — the  color  your  face  would  be  if 
no  blood  ever  flowed  through  your  ar- 
teries and  veins.  Some  people  have 
faces  so  white  they  look  as  though  they 
\>'ere  scared  all  the  time.  This  is  not 
because  they  have  no  blood  flowing 
through  the  veins  and  arteries  in  their 
faces,  but  because  their  sujiply  of  blood 
is  less  than  other  people's,  and  some- 
times because  the  walls  of  their  arter- 
ies and  veins  are  so  much  thicker  than 
the  averai'e  that  the  color  of  the  blood 


194 


WHAT  MAKES  US  SNEEZE 


does  not  show  through.  There  are  also 
many  people  who  have  so  much  hlood 
in  their  systems  all  the  time,  and  the 
walls  of  whose  arteries  are  so  thin,  that 
tliey  look  at  all  times  as  though  they 
might  he  hlushing. 

What  Makes  Me  Blush? 

An}thing  that  will  make  your  h.eart 
send  an  extra  supply  of  hlood  into  the 
arteries  and  veins  which  supply  your 
face  with  hlood,  will  make  you  hlush. 
r.mharrassment  will  do  this.  So  will 
anger  generally,  although  sometimes 
])t.ojile  get  so  angry  that  the  lilood  is 
driven  out  of  their  faces.  In  this  case 
they  are  so  angry  that  their  heart  has 
stopped  heating,  practically. 

What  Occurs  When  We  Think? 

When  we  think  the  mind  is  acting  on 
sensations;  it  is  receiving,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  memories  of  sensations  it  has 
previously  received.  Sensations  as  they 
reach  the  mind  arouse  the  mind  to  ac- 
tivity and,  as  soon  as  the  sensation  is 
received,  the  mind  begins  to  compare 
the  new  sensation  with  sensations  re- 
ceived at  i)revious  times, and  by  putting 
things  together  reaches  a  conclusion. 

When  you  are  thinking  you  are  really 
trying  to  call  upon  memory  to  help  you. 
You  know  the  thought  of  one  thing 
calls  up  another,  and  this  leads  to  some- 
thing else.  This  association  of  ideas  is 
the  faculty  which  enables  us  to  think 
consecutively  and  accurately.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  mind  to  receive  the 
sensations  that  enter  it  and  arrange 
them  in  their  proper  jilaccs.  That  mem- 
ory of  past  sensations  is  the  important 
part  of  thinking,  is  proven  by  the  fact 
that  when  we  have  forgotten  a  thing 
we  are  unable  to  think  what  it  was. 

Can  Animals  Think? 

For  this  reason  if  animals  have  mem- 
ory they  should  be  able  to  think.  It  is 
now  believed  that  many  animals  have 
to  a  certain  extent  the  power  to  re- 
member. 

A  dog  will  recognize  his  master  even 
though  he  has  not  seen  him  for  years. 
We  might  think  he  does  this  by  his 
highly  developed  power  of  smell,  but  if 


Ins  master  has  come  from  a  direction 
opposite  to  that  from  which  the  dog 
first  sees  him,  he  could  not  have  tracked 
him  by  his  smell.  A  dog  will  recognize 
his  master  from  (}uite  a  distance,  so  he 
nnist  have  to  a  certain  extent  the  ability 
to  remember  or  the  power  of  associa- 
tion of  ideas,  which  amounts  to  the 
s;ime  thing.  Again,  a  horse  that  once 
belonged  to  the  fire  department,  even 
though  now  hitched  to  a  milk  wagon, 
will  have  the  impulse  to  run  to  the  lire 
when  he  hears  the  lire  gong.  And  an 
old  war  horse  will  i)rick  u])  his  ears  as 
he  used  to  when  he  hears  the  bugle  call. 

Why  Do  I  Sneeze? 

^  (tu  sneeze  sometimes  when  you  Itjok 
r.p  at  the  sun  or  at  a  bright  light.  There 
does  not  seem  to  be  any  real  good  ex- 
l^lanation  of  why  looking  at  a  bright 
light  should  make  you  sneeze.  It  is  due 
to  the  connection  there  is  between  the 
nerves  of  the  eyes  and  the  nose.  You 
generally  blink  if  you  look  at  a  bright 
hght  suddenly,  and  the  blinking  process 
stirs  the  nerves  inside  of  the  nose  to 
make  you  sneeze. 

You  know,  of  course,  that  the  start  of 
the  sneeze  is  inside  of  your  nose.  The 
nose  is,  besides  being  the  organ  of 
smell,  the  channel  through  which  we 
take  air  into  the  lungs,  when  we  breathe 
properly.  The  nose  is  lined  with  mem- 
branes, back  of  which  are  a  net  of  very 
small  nerves  which  are  extremely  sen- 
sitive. The  membranes  are  placed  there 
to  catch  and  hold  the  impure  particles 
of  matter  which  come  into  the  nose 
when  we  take  in  a  breath  of  air,  and 
sneezing  is  only  one  effective  way  of 
cleaning  out  the  nose.  It  is  brought  on 
only  when  some  particularly  difficult 
job  of  nose-cleaning  has  to  be  done. 
Pepper  up  the  nose  will  make  you 
sneeze  quickly,  because  pepper  pro- 
duces a  very  great  irritation  inside  the 
nose,  and  the  nose  goes  to  work  at  once 
to  get  rid  of  it  in  the  quickest  possible 
manner  as  soon  as  the  pepper  comes  in. 
Cither  things  have  the  same  effect. 
Sometimes  a  cold  in  the  head  causes 
you  to  sneeze.  The  sneeze  in  that  event 
is  merely  nature's  effort  to  clean  out  the 
nose  when  other  efforts  have  failed. 


WHAT  MAKES  THE  LUMP  COME  IN  OUR  THROATS 


195 


There  are  many  suggestions  for  stop- 
ping a  sneeze  before  it  takes  place,  after 
you  feel  it  coming  on,  such  as  putting 
the  linger  on  each  side  of  the  nose,  and 
many  others.  But  a  half  sneeze  does 
not -remove  the  cause  of  the  sneeze,  so 
it  is  much  better  to  sneeze  it  out,  and 
many  people  enjoy  the  after  effects  of 
sneezing  so  much  that  they  take  snuft' 
into  the  nose  to  produce  it. 

What  Happens  When  I  Swallow? 

The  muscles  of  your  throat  act  in  the 
form  of  a  ring  when  food  passes  into 
your  throat.  The  food  does  not  drop 
directly  into  your  stomach.  In  other 
words,  the  action  is  not  quite  the  same 
as  when  you  drop  a  stone  out  of  the 
window.  When  you  do  the  latter,  the 
stone  hits  the  sidewalk  or  wdiatever  is 
below  at  the  time,  with  a  smash.  It 
\\ould  hardly  do  to  have  our  food  drop 
into  the  stomach,  so  the  muscles  of  the 
throat  are  arranged  to  contract  in  rings 
A\hich  push  or  squeeze  the  food  down- 
v/ard,  and  the  food  is  passed  from  one 
ring  of  muscles  to  the  other.  It  is  just 
like  pushing  a  ball  down  into  the  foot 
of  a  stocking  that  is  apparently  too 
small  for  it  to  drop  down.  You  put  the 
])all  in  the  top  of  the  stocking  and  then 
by  making  a  ring  of  your  fingers  around 
the  stocking  you  can  push  the  ball 
down.  When  you  swallow,  you  start 
the  muscles  of  your  throat  to  making 
these  rings.  The  upper  ring  squeezes 
the  food  on  to  the  ring  below  it  and  so 
on  down  to  the  stomach. 

What   Makes  the  Lump   Come   In   My 
Throat  When  I  Cry? 

The  "lump"  which  comes  up  into 
your  throat  when  you  cry  is  caused  by 
a  sort  of  paralysis  of  the  rings  of  mus- 
cles in  your  throat.  The  muscles  of 
your  throat  can  make  these  rings  or 
waves  ui)ward  also,  but  it  is  more  dif- 
ficult ui)ward  than  downward — pnjl)- 
ably  because  of  lack  of  practice,  as  we 
say.  When  you  have  put  something 
iiito  your  stf)macli  that  makes  you  sick 
and  causes  you  to  vomit,  the  throat 
ruisclcs    take    the    matter     from    yf)ur 


stomach  and  bring  it  back  to  the  mouth 
in  the  same  way,  except,  of  course, 
that  this  action  begins  at  the  bottom. 

Sometimes  when  you  cry,  or  lose  con- 
trol of  yourself  in  some  other  way  (you 
know,  of  course,  that  in  crying  you  al- 
ways lose  control  of  yourself,  don't 
you)  practically  the  same  eft'ect  is  pro- 
duced as  when  you  have  something  in 
your  stomach  that  should  come  out. 
Crying,  or  the  thing  that  happens  some- 
times when  we  cry,  makes  the  throat 
muscles  act  just  as  if  we  were  vomit- 
ing, and  as  the  action  is  an  unnatural 
one,  when  the  ring  or  wave  reaches  the 
top  of  the  throat,  we  feel  the  lump  or 
ball  as  we  call  it.  We  feel  the  lump 
because  the  throat  has  been  made  to 
go  through  the  motion  of  eliminating 
something  in  an  imnatural  way,  just  as 
your  arm  will  hurt  if  you  pretend  to 
have  a  ball  or  a  stone  in  it,  and  in 
throwing  the  imaginary  ball  or  stone, 
you  put  the  same  force  into  your  move- 
ments as  you  would  if  you  had  an  ac- 
tual ball  or  stone  in  your  hand  and 
were  seeing  how  far  you  could  throw 
it. 

Why  Do  We  Stop  Growing? 

We  eventually  stop  growing  because 
certain  of  the  cells  of  the  body  lose 
their  ability  of  increasing  in  size  and 
producing  other  cells.  It  is  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  construction  of  the  hu- 
man body  that  this  is  so  and  one  of 
the  wisest  provisions  also.  At  first  the 
cells  of  the  body  crave  lots  of  food  and 
increase  in  size,  divide  and  then  the 
parts  go  on  growing  until  they  become 
of  a  certain  size,  when  they  again  di- 
vide and  each  part  goes  on  growing, 
etc.,  and  thus  we  grow.  A  growing 
boy  needs  more  food  than  a  mature 
man,  because  he  needs  some  of  it  to 
grow  with,  while  the  man  only  has  to 
keep  what  growtli  he  has  going,  i.  e  , 
alive. 

We  say  this  limit  of  growth  is  a  wise 
pT-ovision  of  nature  because  if  there 
were  no  limit  to  the  size  we  might  be- 
come, we  would  not  know  how  large  to 
buil<l  houses,  barns,  etc.,  or  else  we 
would  have  to  build  them  so  large  to 


196 


\\H\    \\I:  GROW  OLD 


start  with  that  wc  would  he  lost  in  them 
for  a  long  time.  We  would  constantly 
be  forced  to  change  these  things  and 
there  would  be  no  basis  to  reckon  from. 
Dogs  might  be  as  big  as  elephants  and 
then  they  would  be  of  no  use  to  us. 
or  of  what  use  would  a  dog  as  big  as 
an  elephant  be  to  a  boy  of  hve  years. 
You  see  it  would  not  do  at  all  to  have 
this  rule  changed. 


Why  Do  We  Grow  Aged? 

We  age  directly  in  r.ccordance  with 
the  lives  wc  lead.  You  can  bend  a  wire 
back  and  forth  a  number  of  times  at 
the  same  point  without  breaking  it,  but 
eventually  it  will  break.  Just  so  with 
the  human  body.  You  can  use  each 
part  of  it  for  its  own  purposes  a  num- 
ber of  times,  but  eventually  the  break 
will  come.  Or,  you  can  fail  to  make 
a  part  of  it  perform  its  regular  func- 
tions, and  it  will  die— the  break  will 
come.  The  human  body  is  the  most 
wonderful  machine  in  the  world,  but 
even  it  will  eventually  wear  out.  Every 
time  you  move  your  arm,  leg  or  some 
other' part  of  your  body,  you  destroy 
some  tissues.  The  body  replenishes  and 
builds  up  those  tissues  again  for  a  cer- 
tain time.  When  you  bend  a  joint  in 
your  body,  the  body  oils  the  joint  nat- 
urally, but  as  you  grow  older,  or  rather, 
as  you  use  the  different  parts  of  your 
body  more  and  more,  it  brings  nearer 
always  the  time,  when  the  body  can- 
not, of  its  own  accord,  build  up  again 
the  tissues  you  have  destroyed.  That 
is  why  some  people  become  very  old  at 
forty  and  others  are  still  comparatively 
young  at  seventy.  It  requires  a  great 
deal  of  care  and  attention  and  the  elimi- 
nation of  all  abuse  of  the  body  to  keep 
us  voung  when  we  are  old.  The  u?e  of 
drink,  lack  of  sufficient  sleep  and  other 
abuses  prevent  the  body  from  restoring 
the  tissues  which  have  been  destroyed. 
Worry  and  sorrow  age  us  very  rapidly, 
because  these  things  affect  the  nerves.  If 
the  nerves  are  not  quiet  we  cannot  get 
any  rest  and  without  rest  w^e  grow  old 
very  rapidly. 


What  Causes  Wrinkles? 

Wrinkles  come  to  us  in  several  ways. 
An  easy  way  to  cause  wrinkles  is  to 
scowl  and  frown  and  get  into  the  habit 
of  doing  this.  When  you  scowl  or 
frown  you  pucker  up  the  skin  on  your 
forehead  into  wrinkles  and  if  you  con- 
tinue the  habit  the  skin  on  your  fore- 
head makes  the  wrinkles  permanent. 
You  have  given  your  skin  the  wrinkle 
h.abit.  This  acts  just  the  same  way  as 
your  arm  would,  if  you  tied  it  up  in  a 
sling  and  held  it  close  to  your  side  for 
a  very  long  time — a  number  of  weeks. 
When  you  took  the  sling  off  you  would 
find  your  arm  useless — a  dead  arm.  It 
had  developed  the  habit  of  doing 
nothing. 

In  old  people,  however,  wrinkles 
come  more  naturally.  There  it  is  the 
case  of  the  skin  not  receiving  the  proper 
nourishment  and  attention  to  keep  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  right.  Wlien 
])eople  become  old  they  are  apt  to  lose 
the  fat  which  has  accumulated  under 
their  skins.  If  they  had  taken  just  the 
right  amount  of  exercise  all  of  their 
lives  and  kept  their  circulation  perfect 
in  all  parts  of  the  body,  there  would 
have  been  no  fat  there.  But  when  the 
fat  accumulates,  it  makes  the  skin  grow 
larger,  and  then  when  the  fat  disap- 
pears and  people  get  thin  again,  the 
skin  is  too  large  and  makes  the 
wrinkles. 

Does  Thunder  Sour  Milk? 

Milk  will  sour  in  any  kind  of  warm 
and  moist  temperature  and,  because 
just  before  and  during  a  thunderstorm 
the  air  is  generally  quite  warm  and 
moist,  it  is  only  natural  that  it  should 
turn  sour.  It  is  wrong,  however,  to 
say  or  think  that  thunder  makes  milk 
sour.  Thunder  is  only  a  noise  and 
noise  cannot  do  anything  but  make  it- 
self heard.  The  fact  that  it  is  gen- 
erally warm  and  moist,  however,  when 
it  thunders,  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
these  conditions  of  the  air  sour  milk 
very  rapidly,  have  led  people  to  con- 
nect the  two  in  their  minds  and  caused 
them  to  fall  into  the  error  of  believing 
that  the  thunder  is  responsible  for  the 
change  in  the  milk. 


L 


WHY  THERE  ARE  SO  MANY  LANGUAGES 


19/ 


What  Makes  the  Rings  in  the  Water     out   from  the  point  where  the  pebble 
When  I  Throw  a  Stone  Into  It?  entered  the  water  in  all  directions. 


Every  movement  has  a  beginning. 
When  a  movement  on  the  earth  is  once 
started  it  keeps  on  going  until  some- 
thing stops  it.  If  nothing  stops  it  it 
will  go  on  forever. 

\\'hen  you  shout  you  start  air  waves 
going  in  every  direction,  which  keeps 
on  going  until  stopped  by  something 
which  has  the  power  to  break  up  their 
waves. 

When  you  throw  a  stone  into  the 
ocean  you  start  a  series  of  ripples 
or  waves  which  spread  out  in  every 
direction  and  if  you  dropped  your 
stone  into  the  exact  middle  of  the 
ocean — half  way  from  each  side — 
in  a  perfectly  calm  sea  undisturbed 
by  other  forces,  your  ring  of  rip- 
ples would  go  on  getting  larger  until 
it  landed  on  the  beach  or  shore  on  each 
side  of  the  ocean  at  the  exactly  the 
same  time  and  there  the  beach  or  shore 
would  stop  it. 

The  original  ring  of  ripples  is  caused 
by  the  fact  that  when  you  drop  a  stone 
into  the  water  it  disturbs  the  water 
where  it  goes  in  and  the  water  moves 
away  from  the  stone  to  the  sides,  and 
a.^  the  stone  goes  down,  over  and  up 
above  it,  and  the  whole  body  of  the 
water  is  disturbed  in  such  a  way  that 
makes  the  ripple  appear  on  the  surface 
and  spread  out  in  every  direction.  As 
the  stone  goes  down  into  the  water 
further  and  further  the  disturbance  is 
repeated  and  ring  after  ring  appears 
on  the  surface. 

Of  course  there  are  many  disturb- 
ances in  the  water  at  all  times.  Many 
things  may  happen  to  break  up  your 
little  ring  of  ripples  before  they  touch 
the  sides  of  the  ocean — a  shiji — a  fish — 
the  wind — or  one  of  many  other  things, 
and  because  this  is  true  you  would  have 
difficulty  in  sending  the  waves  made  by 
your  little  pebble  across  the  ocean,  but 
you  can  take  a  dishi)an  from  the  kitchen 
and  after  filling  it  with  water  drop 
pebV)les  into  it  as  nearly  the  middle  as 
possible,  and  you  will  see  the  ripples 
or    waves    your    pebble    makes    spread 


Why  Are  There  Many  Languages? 

Different  languages  developed  in  dif- 
ferent i)arts  of  the  world  because  there 
was  no  inter-communication  between 
people  in  different  communities,  and 
each  was  really  developing  a  language 
for  itself.  In  doing  so  they  developed 
their  language  without  knowing  that 
other  communities  were  working  out 
the  same  problems  for  themselves.  So 
they  first  developed  their  own  sign  and 
gesture  language  and  later  on  their 
word  or  sound  language  and  kept  on 
using  it.  While  they  may  thus  have 
developed  the  use  of  some  of  the  same 
signs  and  sounds  or  combination  of 
sounds  to  express  one  thing  perfectly 
understandable  to  themselves,  these 
sounds  or  combinations  of  sounds  might 
mean  something  entirely  different  to 
another  community,  where  that  partic- 
ular sound  or  combination  of  sounds 
may  have  been  hit  upon  to  mean  some- 
thing entirely  different. 

Of  course,  not  all  languages  were  de- 
veloped in  this  way.  There  are,  you 
know,  a  great  many  languages  used  in 
the  world.  Some  of  them  are  off- 
shoots of  others,  where  part  of  a  com- 
munity moved  to  another  part  of  the 
world,  taking  their  language  with  them, 
but  developing  it  further  along  new 
lines,  and  using  new  combinations  of 
sounds  for  new  words.  Then  also, 
there  are  many  words  which  mean  the 
same  thing  in  different  languages  and 
are  spoken  with  ])ractically  the  same 
sounds.  This  is  due  to  the  movement 
of  people  from  one  nation  to  another 
and  bringing  their  own  words  with 
them,  so  to  speak.  In  many  instances 
a  stranger  would  come  to  another  na- 
tion, and  use  his  own  word  for  cx- 
])ressing  a  certain  thing  and  that  would 
eventually  be  taken  up  and  used  as  a 
better  word,  and  the  old  word  dropped. 
Il  is  strange  that  this  should  be  true, 
but  this  accounts  for  the  fact  that  manv 
words  are  the  same  in  sound  and  mean- 
ing in  numerous  languages. 


198 


WHAT  PRODUCES  THE  WHISTLE  OF  THE  KETTLE 


What  Makes  a  Match  Light  When  We 
Strike  It? 

The  match  lights  when  we  rub  it 
along  a  rough  substance,  because  the 
rubbing  produces  sufficient  heat  on  tiie 
end  of  the  match  to  set  lire  to  the  head, 
as  we  call  it,  which  is  made  of  chem- 
icals that  light  more  easily  than  the 
stick  of  wood,  which  is  the  rest  o\  the 
match.  The  hre  thus  started  is  hot 
enough  and  burns  long  enough  to  set 
lire  to  the  wooden  ]iart  of  the  match. 

To  exi)lain  this  more  fully,  let  me 
sav  this.  Rub  your  fnigcr  (juickly  along 
ycur  coat  sleeve  or  along  the  seat  of 
your  trousers,  long  a  favorite  place  for 
men  to  strike  matches,  pretending  that 
your  linger  is  a  match.  You  find  the 
end  of  your  finger  becomes  warm,  don't 
you?  Not  warm  enough  to  set  your 
finger  on  fire,  of  course,  but  if  you  had 
the  same  combination  of  chemicals  on 
the  end  of  your  finger  that  there  is  on 
the  match,  you  would  set  the  chemicals 
afire  and  this  would  burn  your  finger, 
just  as  it  sets  fire  to  the  wooden  part 
of  the  match. 

It  took  a  great  many  years  to  dis- 
cover the  combination  of  chemicals  of 
which  the  head  of  the  match  is  made. 
Before  that  discovery  was  made  it  was 
far  from  easy  to  light  the  light  in  the 
evening  as  it  is  now.  It  must  have  been 
a  serious  thing  to  let  the  fire  go  out  in 
the  furnace  in  those  days. 

What  Makes  the  Kettle  Whistle? 

The  kettle  whistles  only  when  the 
v;ater  boils  and  the  steam  or  gas  which 
is  the  form  the  water  turns  into  when 
boiling  is  trying  to  escape  through  the 
spout  of  the' kettle.  You  see,  when  the 
water  starts  boiling,  the  inside  of  the 
kettle  is  at  once  filled  with  steam  and 
more  is  coming  out  of  the  water  all  the 
time.  This  steam  must  get  out  some 
way,  so  it  rushes  for  the  spout  of  the 
kettle,  and  because  so  much  of  it  is  try- 
ing to  get  out  of  a  comparatively  small 
opening  at  once  there  is  quite  a  pres- 
sure and  this  results  in  making  the 
whistle  out  of  the  spout  of  the  kettle. 
Il  is  just  the  same  process  as  when  you 
whistle  yourself.     To  whistle  you  fill 


\c/ur  mouth  with  air  and  force  it  out 
through  your  lips,  which  you  have 
closed  excepting  for  a  small  opening. 
1)\-  the  i)ressure  you  can  bring  to  bear 
with  the  roof  and  sides  of  your  mouth, 
and  if  you  have  learned  to  make  your 
lips  into  the  proper  shape  and  ai)ply 
the  ]iressure  steadily  you  can  sound  a 
\ery  long  note  and  make  different  notes 
by  making  the  o])ening  in  your  li])S 
large  or  small.  The  kettle  spout  has 
only  one  size  of  opening  so  the  sound 
is  practically  the  .same  at  all  times 
though  louder  at  sometimes  than  at 
others.  This  is  caused  by  the  varying 
pi  essure  at  which  the  steam  in  the  ket- 
tle is  being  forced  out. 

What  Makes  the  Water  From  a  Foun- 
tain Shoot  Into  the  Air? 

The  water  from  the  fountain  shoots 
into  the  air  because  water  anywhere 
will  run  down  if  given  a  chance.  To 
I'roduce  a  fountain  you  must  have  a 
source  of  water  supply  for  the  fountain 
v;hich  is  higher  than  the  openings  of 
the  fountain  out  of  which  the  water 
shoots.  The  water  comes  out  of  the 
holes  in  the  fountain  for  the  same  rea- 
son that  it  comes  out  of  the  faucet  in 
the  kitchen  or  bath  room.  In  the  lat- 
ter case  the  water  comes  from  the  wa- 
terworks reservoir  in  which  the  level  of 
the  water  is  much  higher  than  the 
opening  in  the  faucet  in  your  home. 
Being  higher  the  water  in  the  reservoir 
is  trying  to  get  away  through  the  ]')ipes 
all  the  time  and  all  the  ])ii)es  leading 
from  the  reservoir  are  full  of  this  wa- 
ter trying  to  get  away.  Just  as  soon  as 
you  turn  the  valve  in  the  faucet  the 
water  comes  out  and  runs  down  into 
the  bowl. 

If  you  were  to  turn  the  opening  of 
the  faucet  up  instead  of  down  as  it  is, 
the  water  would  shoot  up  instead  of 
down.  Not  very  much,  it  is  true,  but 
it  would  act  much  like  the  water  from 
the  fountain.  The  reason  it  does  not 
shoot  up  high  in  the  air  like  a  fountain 
is  because  the  opening  in  the  faucet  is 
the  same  size  as  the  opening  in  the 
little  ])ipe  which  leads  the  water  from 
the  street  into  the  house.    If  you  would 


WHY  A  BALLOON  GOES  UP 


199 


ti:rn  the  opening  of  the  faucet  up  and 
attach  to  it  a  pipe  which  made  the 
opening  much  smaller  (the  size  of  the 
opening  in  the  fountains),  you  would 
see  the  water  shoot  into  the  air  just  as 
it  does  from  the  fountain.  When  you 
reduce  the  size  of  the  opening  you  in- 
crease the  pressure  of  the  water  com- 
ing from  the  pipes  in  proportion  to  the 
reduction  you  have  made  in  the  size 
of  the  opening. 

Water  from  the  fountain  will  not, 
however,  shoot  as  high  as  the  level  of 
the  water  in  the  reservoir  because,  as 
soon  as  it  leaves  the  pipes,  it  encount- 
ers the  pressure  of  the  air  outside  the 
pipes  and  the  law  of  gravitation  which 
pulls  all  things  toward  the  center  of 
th.e  earth. 

It  is  not  natural  for  water  to  shoot 
into  the  air  as  it  does  in  a  fountain. 
The  only  way  water  can  go  naturally 
is  down,  and  it  only  goes  up  a  little  way 
from  a  fountain  because  of  the  pres- 
S'jre  of  the  water  in  the  pipes  behind 
the  openings  in  the  pipes  in  the  foun- 
tain. 


What  Keeps  a  Balloon  Up? 

A  balloon  stays  up  in  the  air,  because 
of  the  air  in  it,  together  with  the  weight 
of  the  balloon,  is  less  than  an  equal  bulk 
of  the  air  in  which  it  floats. 

In  former  days  of  ballooning  the  bal- 
loons were  filled  with  hot  air  and  were 
tb.cn  found  to  rise  and  stay  up  until  the 
air  inside  of  the  balloon  became  of  the 
snme  temperature  as  that  in  which  it 
floated.  When  this  stage  was  reached, 
the  balloon  itself  would  fall  because 
the  material  of  which  it  was  made  was 
denser  than  air. 

Today  balloonists  fill  their  balloons 
with  gas  which  is  lighter  than  air,  even 
when  as  cool  as  the  air  in  which  they 
rise  anrl  are  thus  able  to  stay  u])  a  long 
time. 

You,  of  course,  have  seen  many  of 
tlic  red,  white  and  blue  paper  balloons 
which  are  sent  up  on  the  Fourth  of 
July.  You  will  remember  that  father, 
ci  whoever  it  is  that  is  senrhn^'  them 
ii[),  lights  the  oil-soaked  knot  of  cloth 


that  is  attached  to  the  balloon  immedi- 
ately below  the  opening  at  the  bottom. 
He  first  lights  this  and  then  holds  the 
balloon  for  a  time  with  his  hands. 

Soon,  however,  you  will  remember 
that  the  balloon  starts  upward  with 
father  still  holding  it.  This  is  because 
the  air  inside  the  balloon  is  becoming 
heated.  You  will  notice  also  that  at 
first  he  has  to  hold  out  the  sides  of  the 
top  of  the  balloon  with  his  hands  or 
has  some  one  help  him  do  this,  but  that 
even  so  the  balloon  does  not  stand  out 
round  and  full  as  it  should.  When  the 
brdloon  starts  to  rise,  however,  you  will 
notice  that  it  is  round  and  full.  This 
is  because  the  air  in  the  balloon  has 
become  heated  and  is  expanding.  Soon 
the  balloon  is  tugging  to  get  away  and 
father  lets  go  and  it  rises  and  sails  away 
with  the  wind.  As  long  as  the  fire  be- 
low it  burns,  and  if  the  wind  does  not 
upset  it  so  as  to  make  the  paper  part 
catch  fire,  the  balloon  will  stay  up ;  but, 
when  the  fire  burns  out,  the  balloon  will 
come  down. 

The  balloon  merely  rises  because  the 
air  inside,  and  held  there  by  the  cov- 
ering of  the  balloon,  is  warmer  air  and 
lighter  than  the  air  on  the  outside. 


Why   Did  People   of    Long    Ago 
Longer  Than  We  Do  Now? 


Live 


When  reading  of  peo])le  who  lived 
long  years  ago  and  especially  when 
reading  about  the  length  of  their  lives, 
we  are  told  that  in  the  old  days  peoj^le 
lived  longer  than  they  do  now.  Some 
of  the  early  historical  records  speak  of 
single  individuals  who  lived  hundreds 
of  years.  There  is  great  doubt  as  to 
v/hether  these  statements  are  founded 
on  fact.  In  thinking  about  this  we 
must  first  take  into  consideration  that 
these  records  of  long  ages  were  re- 
corded at  a  linu-  when  man  had  no  ac- 
curate ideas  of  the  actual  passage  of 
long  periods  of  time  such  as  a  year. 
They  did  not  have  our  calendar  as  a 
basis  for  figuring  at  all.  Learned  nun 
now  tell  us  that  the  actual  age  of  nien 
who  lived  at  the  time  these  records  of 
great  ages  were  recorded  probably  lived 


200 


WHAT  CAUSES  THE  ECHO 


shorter  lives  than  we  do  now,  and  that 
what  they  record  as  a  period  of  one 
ytar  was  probably  a  much  shorter  jicr- 
iod  than  one  year. 

It  is  true  beyond  the  question  of  a 
doubt  that  the  people  of  today  live 
longer  on  the  average  than  people  who 
lived  ten,  twenty  or  more  years  ago. 

In  other  words,  the  average  period  of 
life  has  increased  steadily.  This  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  we  have  taken  great 
care  of  our  bodies  ;  have  improved  the 
conditions  in  which  we  live,  and  made 
them  more  sanitary ;  have  learned  to 
fight  and  check  and  eradicate  diseases, 
which  only  a  few  years  ago  we  could 
not  prevent  people  dying  of  when  they 
once  contracted  them,  and  we  know 
from  the  records  which  w^e  keep  that 
actually  people  live  longer  on  the  aver- 
age today  than  only  a  few  years  ago, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  they  live  longer 
now  on  the  average  than  at  any  time 
in  the  world's  history. 

Is  There  a  Reason  for  Everything? 

The  world  is  so  constructed  that 
there  must  be  a  reason  or  cause  for 
everything.  There  are  so  many  forces 
in  the  world  that  man  has  not  yet  been 
able  to  locate  the  original  cause  of  every 
one  of  them.  Concerning  other  things, 
he  sees  the  effects  without  having  any 
knowledge  of  the  forces  which  are 
their  cause.  Other  things  he  has  never 
even  bothered  to  inquire  about,  but  sim- 
ply takes  them  for  granted.  But  every 
force,  which  means,  of  course,  every- 
thing in  tlie  world,  must  have  had  a 
beginning  and  therefore  something  or 
a  combination  of  things  must  have 
caused  it  to  begin,  and  the  thing  or 
things  that  caused  it  to  be  is  the  reason 
for  its  being.  Every  little  while  some- 
one makes  a  discovery  of  some  new 
force,  and  then  we  suddenly  realize 
that  this  force  has  been  in  existence  all 
the  time  although  not  known  to  man, 
and  we  discover  through  this  the  rea- 
son for  many  other  things  being  as  they 
are. 

The  other  thing  or  side  of  the  ques- 
tion is  also  true.  We  cannot  have  a 
cause  without  an  effect.     You  cannot 


do  anything  without  causing  something 
to  hapi)en  and  producing  an  etfect  on 
one  or  more  other  objects  either  ani- 
mate or  inanimate.  You  cannot  move 
your  hand  without  creating  some  dis- 
turbance in  the  air.  When  you  make  a 
noise,  low  or  loud,  you  produce  sound 
waves.  When  you  burn  a  stick  of 
wood,  you  create  smoke,  ashes  and 
gases  of  various  kinds.  You  change  the 
whole  nature  of  what  was  the  ])iece  of 
wood,  and  yet  no  particle  of  what  made 
the  stick  of  wood  is  ever  destroyed  t)r 
lost,  but  appears  in  some  other  thing  in 
the  air  or  on  or  in  the  earth. 

What  Makes  an  Echo? 

.'\n  echo  is  caused  when  the  waves  of 
air  which  you  create  when  you  shout 
are  thrown  back  again  when  they  are 
slopped  by  something  they  encounter 
and  are  turned  back  without  changing 
their  shape.  Any  kind  of  a  sound 
wave  will  make  an  echo  in  this  way. 

You  sec,  you  can  have  no  sound  of 
any  kind  without  sound  waves.  You 
could  not  make  a  sound  if  there  were 
no  air.  Now,  when  you  shout,  you 
start  a  series  of  sound  waves  that  go 
out  from  you  in  every  direction  and 
they  spread  away  from  you  in  circles 
just  like  the  rings  of  ripples  that  are 
caused  when  you  drop  a  stone  into  a 
pool  of  water.  You  can  prove  this  to 
yourself  easily  by  having  one,  two, 
three  or  more  of  your  friends  stand 
around  you  in  a  large  circle.  You  can 
place  them  as  far  away  from  you  as 
your  shout  can  be  heard  if  you  wish. 
When  you  shout,  each  of  your  friends 
will  hear  the  shout  at  the  same  time, 
provided,  of  course,  they  are  at  equal 
distances  from  you. 

vSometimes  these  sound  waves  as 
they  go  away  from  you  in  circles  strike 
objects  that  turn  the  waves  back  un- 
broken just  as  they  came  to  them.  The 
waves  will  bounce  back  just  like  a  rub- 
ber ball  from  a  wall  against  which  it 
has  been  thrown  and  this  is  the  echo. 
However,  some  things  that  the  sound 
waves  strike  break  up  these  waves  en- 
tirely and  others  partially. 

No  doubt  you   have   sometimes  no- 


WHAT  CAUSES  A  WHISPERING  GALLERY 


201 


ticed  when  you  shout  you  hear  a  dis- 
tinct echo  and  that  at  other  times, 
standing  in  the  same  place,  you  cannot 
hear  any  echo,  aUhough  you  shout  in 
the  same  way.  This  is  explained  by  the 
fact  that  at  times  conditions  of  the  air 
are  such  that  no  echo  is  produced  while 
at  other  times  a  perfect  echo  results. 

What  is  a  Whispering  Gallery? 

The  possibilities  of  an  echo  have 
to  be  taken  into  account  by  the 
architects  and  builders  of  all  pub- 
He  buildings,  such  as  theaters,  halls 
and  churches,  where  anyone  is  to 
speak  or  entertain  others.  Unless 
they  are  very  careful  the  walls  and 
ceilings  may  be  so  arranged  that  when 
any  one  sings  or  speaks  in  the  room, 
there  is  such  an  echo  that  it  interferes 
with  the  music  or  speaking.  It  some- 
times happens  also  that  through  some 
peculiarity  in  which  the  walls  and  ceil- 
ing of  a  building  are  constructed  there 
will  be  certain  places  in  the  room  where 
an  echo  can  be  heard,  even  a  whisper, 
and  which  cannot  be  heard  in  other 
parts  of  the  room  at  all.  This  is  likely 
to  occur  in  rooms  where  there  is  a 
dome-shaped  ceiling.  There  will  be 
certain  spots  in  the  room  hundreds  of 
feet  apart,  where  if  you  stand  on  one 
spot  and  another  person  is  on  another 
definite  spot  clear  across  the  room,  the 
tiniest  whisper  can  be  heard,  while  the 
I)eople  in  between  cannot  hear  at  all. 
This  is  called  a  whisj)ering  gallery.  Of 
course,  loud  talking  would  produce  the 
same  efifect.  A  whispering  gallery  is  a 
gallery  with  an  echo  which  can  be 
heard  from  certain  positions.  There 
are  a  number  of  famous  whis])cring  gal- 
leries of  the  world.  In  the  room  be- 
neath the  great  dome  of  our  Capitol  at 
Washington  is  an  almost  jjcrfect  whis- 
pering gallery.  There  arc  r|uite  a  num- 
ber of  points  at  which  you  can  stanfl 
and  hear  the  whis]jers  across  the  room 
which  is  more  than  a  hundred  feet. 
These  whispering  galleries  come  acci- 
dentally, of  course.  It  would  be  dinicuU 
lo  deliberately  construct  a  building  in 
such  a  way  as  to  produce  a  whispering 
gallery. 


Why  Do  We  Get  a  Bump  Instead  of  a 
Dent  When  We  Knock  Our  Heads  ? 

When  you  knock  your  head  against 
a  sharp  corner,  or  if  some  one  hits  you 
on  the  head  with  anything  with  a  sharp 
edge,  you  do  receive  a  dent  in  your 
head,  but  it  does  not  last.  In  other 
words,  the  head  has  one  of  the  quali- 
ties of  a  rubber  ball.  You  can  press 
your  finger  against  the  sides  of  the 
rubber  ball  and  push  it  in,  but  when 
you  take  your  finger  off  the  ball  re- 
sumes its  shape.  Just  so  with  your 
head — it  resumes  its  shape  after  a 
blow. 

After  doing  this,  however,  a  bump  or 
liunp  is  formed.  I  will  endeavor  to  tell 
you  how  the  bump  is  formed  or  rather 
what  causes  it  to  form.  You  cannot 
knock  your  head  against  anything  that 
is  harder  than  your  head  without  caus- 
ing some  injury  to  the  parts  which  re- 
ceived the  bump.  Now,  what  happens 
then  is  just  what  happens  to  any  other 
part  of  your  body  when  it  is  injured 
whether  as  a  result  of  a  bump,  a  cut  or 
a  bee  or  mosquito  sting. 

As  soon  as  the  injury  occurs  the 
brain  starts  the  "repair  crew"  to  work. 
The  result  is  that  first  a  great  supply 
of  blood  is  rushed  to  the  injured  })art 
with  the  result  that  the  blood  vessels 
are  filled  up  and  extended  with  blood. 
Certain  parts  of  the  blood  cells  find 
their  way  through  the  walls  of  the  blood 
vessels  at  the  part  of  the  injury  and 
other  fluids  from  the  body  are  piled  up 
there,  so  to  speak,  to  form  a  conges- 
tion. This  "piling  up  or  congestion" 
distends  the  skin  and  raises  the  bump. 
On  the  head  where  the  layer  of 
mu.scular  structure  is  thinner  and 
where  there  is  less  space  between  the 
bones  of  the  skull  and  the  outside  skin, 
the  bump  will  be  larger  and  more 
noticeable,  because  a  good  deal  of  blood 
and  other  fluids  are  piled  up  in  a  com- 
])aratively  small  space,  and  so  the  skin 
gets  pushed  out  further  to  accomnio- 
datt-  this  great  Cf)ngestion,  whereas  in 
other  parts  of  the  body  the  bump 
may  be  (|nite  as  large  but  not  so  notice- 
able. 


202       HOW  MEN   GO  DOWN  TO  THE   BOTTOM   OF  THE  SEA 


ri'TTING  ON    THE    SllT.  PUTTl.Ni.   O.N     llll.   IKON-SOLEU   ijilUl  S. 

Socks,    trousers    and    shirt    in    one,    and    a       They  are  purposely  made  heavy,  to  help  liic 


copper  breastplate. 


diver  sink. 


The  Deep  Sea  Diver 


What  Does  the  Bottom  of  the  Sea  Look 
Like? 

It  looks  verj'  much  like  the  land  on 
wliich  we  live.  There  are  mountains 
and  valleys,  rocks  and  crags,  trees  and 
grass,  just  the  same  as  we  see  on  land, 
e>'cept,  of  course,  that  there  are  no  hu- 
man beings  to  be  seen.  Instead  of  birds 
flitting  about  the  tree-tops,  fish  swim 
about  them,  and  where  the  squirrel  and 
rabbit  bound  through  the  woods  on 
Ipnd,  the  great  king  crab  and  sea  turtle 
drag  their  unwieldy  forms  on  the 
ocean's  bottom.  Some  of  the  scenes  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  are  like  fairyland, 


and  in  tropical  waters  are  often  as 
beautiful  and  spectacular  as  those  we 
see  in  theatrical  pantomines.  Deli- 
cately tinted  sea-shells,  great  trees  of 
snow-white  coral,  sea  foliage  of  every 
tint  and  shape,  and  deep  dark  caverns, 
in  which  lurk  the  devil-  fishand  other 
otld  looking  fish. 

The   Diver's  Outfit. 

The  armor  of  to-day  consists  of  a 
rubber  and  canvas  suit,  socks,  trousers 
and  shirt  in  one,  a  copper  breastplate 
or  collar,  a  copper  helmet,  iron-soled 
shoes,  and  a  belt  of  leaden  weights  to 
sink  the  diver. 


-ADJUSTING  THE  TELEPHONE. 

This  enables  the  diver  to  talk  at  all  times 
to  those  above  him. 


PUTTING    ON    THE    HELMET. 

It   is   made   of   tinned   copper,    with   three 
glass-covered   openings,   to  enable   the   diver 

to   jnok   out. 


TELEPHONING   FROM  THE  BOTTOM  OF  THE  OCEAN        203 


TESTIXG   THE   TELEPHONE. 

E\  cry  precaution  is  taken  to  see  that 
everything  is  in  order  before  the  diver  goes 
down. 

The  helmet  is  made  of  tinned  copper, 
Vv-ith  three  circular  glasses,  one  in  front 
and  one  on  either  side,  with  guards  to 
protect  them.  The  front  eye-piece  is 
made  to  unscrew  and  enable  the  diver 
t'j  receive  or  give  instructions  without 
removing  the  helmet.  One  or  more 
outlet  valves  are  placed  at  the  back  or 
side  of  the  helmet  to  allow  the  vitiated 
air  to  escape.  These  valves  only  open 
outwards  by  working  against  a  spiral 
spring,  so  that  no  water  can  enter.  The 
inlet  valve  is  at  the  back  of  the  helmet, 
and  the  air  on  entry  is  directed  by 
three  channels  running  along  the  top 
of  the  helmet  to  points  above  the  eye- 
pieces, enabling  the  diver  to  always 
inhale  fresh  air.  The  helmet  is  secured 
lo  the  breastplate  below  by  a  segmental 
screw-bayonet  joint,  securing  attach- 
ment by  one-eighth  of  a  turn.  The 
junction  between  the  water-proof  dress 
and  the  breastplate  is  made  watertight 
by  means  of  studs,  brass  plates  and 
wing-nuts. 

A  life  or  signal-line  and  also  a  mod- 
ern telephone  enables  the  diver  to  com- 
municate at  all  times  with  those  above 
him. 

The  cost  of  a  complete  diving  outfit 
ranges  from  $750.00  to  $1,000.00.  The 
weight  of  the  armor  and  attachments 
worn  by  the  diver  is  256  pounds,  di- 
vided as  follows :  Helmet  and  breast- 
y.late,  58  pounds  ;  belt  of  lead  weights, 
122  j)Ounds ;  rubber  suit,  i<)  ])Ounds ; 
iron-soled  shoes,  27  pounds  each. 


THE    FINAL    TEST. 

The  least  error  in  the  adjustment  may  mean 
death  to  the  diver. 


The  air  which  sustains  the  diver's 
life  below  the  surface  is  pumped  from 
above  by  a  powerful  pump,  which  must 
be  kept  constantly  at  work  while  the 
diver  is  down.  A  stoppage  of  the  ptmip 
a  single  instant  while  the  diver  is  in 
deep  water  would  result  almost  in  his 
instant  death  from  the  pressure  of  the 
v/ater  outside. 

The  greatest  depth  reached  by  any 
diver  was  204  feet,  at  which  depth  there 
was  a  pressure  of  88^  pounds  per 
square  inch  on  his  body.  The  area  ex- 
posed of  the  average  diver  in  armor 
is  720  inches,  which  would  have  made 
the  diver  at  that  depth  sustain  a  pres- 
sure of  66,960  pounds,  or  over  33  tons. 
The  water  pressure  on  a  diver  is  as 
follows : 

20  feet 8K'  lbs. 

30  feet i2.>:;  lbs. 

40  feet ly^i  lbs. 

50  feet 21^)4  lbs. 

60  feet 26j^  lbs. 

70  feet 30K'  lbs. 

80  feet S4H  lbs. 

90  feet 39      lbs. 

100  feet 43K'  ll)s. 

120  feet 5234  lbs. 

130  feet 56><^.  lbs. 

140  feet C}0^4  lbs. 

150  feet 65^  lbs. 

160  feet 6(;X|  l])s. 

170  feet 74      lbs. 

180  feet 7>^      ll)s. 

190  feet 82 14  lbs. 

204  feet 88'^  lbs. 


204 


THE   GREATEST   DIVING   FEAT 


The  dangers  of  diving  are  manifold, 
and  so  risky  is  the  calling  that  there 
are  comparatively  few  divers  in  the 
United  States.  The  cheapest  of  them 
command  $10.00  a  day  for  four  or  five 
hours'  work,  and  many  of  them  get 
$50.00  and  $60.00  for  the  same  term 
of  labor  under  water. 

The  greatest  danger  that  besets  the 
diver  is  the  risk  he  runs  every  time  he 
dives  of  rupturing  a  blood-vessel  by 
the  excessively  compressed  air  he  is 
compelled  to  breathe.  He  is  also  sub- 
ject to  attacks  from  sharks,  sword-fish, 
devil-fish,  and  other  voracious  monsters 
cf  the  ocean's  depths.  To  defend  him- 
self against  them,  he  carries  a  double- 
edged  knife  as  sharp  as  a  razor.  It  is 
the  diver's  sole  weapon  of  defense. 

Just  how  far  back  the  art  of  sub- 
marine diving  dates  is  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture, but  until  the  invention  of  the 
present  armor  and  helmet,  in  1839, 
work  and  exploration  under  water 
was.  at  best,  imperfect,  and  could  only 
be  pursued  in  a  very  limited  degree. 

Feats  of  Divers. 

Millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty has  been  recovered  from  the 
ocean's  depth  by  divers.  One  of  the 
greatest  achievements  in  this  line  was 
by  the  famous  English  diver,  Lambert, 
who  recovered  vast  treasure  from  the 
"Alfonso  XII,"  a  Spanish  mail 
steamer  belonging  to  the  Lopez  Line, 
which    sank   off    Point    Gando,    Grand 


Canary,  in  26^  fathoms  of  water.  The 
salvage  party  was  dispatched  by  the 
underwriters  in  May,  1885,  the  vessel 
having  £100,000  in  specie  on  board. 
For  nearly  six  months  the  operations 
were  persevered  in  before  the  divers 
could  reach  the  treasure-room  beneath 
the  three  decks.  Two  divers  lost  their 
lives  in  the  vain  attempt,  the  pressure 
of  water  lieing  fatal.  The  diver  re- 
covered £90,000  from  the  wreck,  and 
got  £4,500  for  doing  it. 

One  of  the  most  difficult  operations 
ever  performed  by  a  diver  was  the 
recovering  of  the  treasure  sunk  in  the 
steamship  "Malabar,"  off  Galle.  On 
this  occasion  the  large  iron  plates,  half 
an  inch  thick,  had  to  be  cut  away  from 
the  mail-room,  and  then  the  diver  had 
to  work  through  nine  feet  of  sand.  The 
whole  of  the  specie  on  board  this  ves- 
sel— upward  of  $1,500,000 — was  saved, 
as  much  as  $80,000  having  been  gotten 
out  in  one  day. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  from 
time  to  time  expeditions  have  been 
fitted  out,  and  companies  formed,  with 
the  sole  intention  of  searching  for 
buried  treasure  beneath  the  sea.  y\gain 
and  again  have  expeditions  left  New 
York  or  San  Francisco  in  the  cer- 
tainty of  recovering  tons  of  bullion 
sunk  off  the  Brazilian  coast,  or  lying 
undisturbed  in  th^mud  of  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata.  ^ 

At  the  end  of  1885,  the  large  steamer 
Imbus,  belonging  to  the  P.  &  O.  Co., 


The  la.st    look  just  before  going   down. 


Looming   up   alter   a    successful    trip. 


4M^ 


WHAT   HAPPENS    WHEN   A  THING    EXPLODES 


20.") 


sank  off  Trincomalee,  having  on  board 
a  very  valuable  East-India  cargo,  to 
gether  with  a  large  amount  of  specie. 
This  was  another  case  of  a  fortune 
found  in  the  sea,  for  a  very  large 
amount  of  treasure  was  recovered. 

Another  wreck  from  which  a  large 
sum  of  gold  coin  and  bullion  was  re- 
covered by  divers,  was  that  of  the 
French  ship  "L'Orient."  She  is  stated 
to  have  had  on  board  specie  to  the  value 
of  no  less  than  $3,000,000,  besides 
other  treasure. 

A  parallel  case  to  "L'Orient"  is  that 
of  the  "Lutine,"  a  warship  of  thirty- 
two  guns,  wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Hol- 
land. This  vessel  sailed  from  the  Yar- 
mouth Roads  with  an  immense  quantity 
of  treasure  for  the  Texel.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  it  came  on  to  blow  a 
heavy  gale  ;  the  vessel  was  lost  and  went 
to  pieces.  Salvage  operations  by  divers, 
during  eighteen  months,  resulted  in  the 
recovery  of  £400,000  in  specie. 

Humorous  scenes  do  not  play  much 
of  a  part  on  the  ocean's  bottom,  and 
the  sublime  and  awe-inspiring  are  far 
more  in  evidence  there  than  the  ludi- 
crous, yet  even  beneath  the  waves  there 
are  laughable  scenes  at  times.  A  diver 
had  been  engaged  to  inspect  a  sunken 
vessel  off  the  coast  of  Cuba.  Arriving 
on  the  scene  he  discovered  a  number 
of  native  sponge-di\Ters,  who  descend 
to  considerable  depms,  diving  down 
from  their  canoes  to  the  sunken  vessel 
trying  to  pick  up  something  of  value. 
They  paid  little  attention  to  the  arrival 
of  the  wrecking  outfit,  and  did  not 
notice  the  diver  descend,  until  suddenly 
what  seemed  to  them  to  be  a  horrible 
human-shaped  monster,  with  an  im- 
mense head  of  glistening  copper  and 
three  big,  round,  glassy  eyes,  came 
walking  around  the  vessel's  bow  and 
marie  a  big  salaam  to  them.  That  was 
enough.  They  shot  surfaceward  like 
sky-rockets,  climbed  frantically  into 
their  canoes  and  hurriedly  rowed  away. 

What    Happens    When    Anything    Ex- 
plodes? 

By  exjilosives  are  meant  substances 
that  can  be  made  to  give  off  a  large 


quantity  of  gas  in  an  exceedingly  short 
time,  and  the  shorter  the  time  required 
for  the  production  of  the  gas  the  greater 
will  be  the  violence  of  the  explosion. 
iVIany  substances  that  ordinarily  have 
no  explosive  qualities  may  be  made  to 
act  as  explosives  under  certain  circum- 
stances. Water,  for  example,  has  caused 
very  destructive  boiler  explosions  when 
a  quantity  of  it  has  been  allowed  to 
enter  an  empty  boiler  that  had  become 
red  hot.  Particles  of  dust  in  the  air 
have  occasioned  explosions  in  saw 
mills,  where  the  air  always  contains 
large  quantities  of  dust.  A  flame  intro- 
duced into  air  that  is  heavily  laden  with 
dust  may  cause  a  sudden  burning  of 
the  particles  near  it,  and  from  these  the 
fire  may  be  conveyed  so  rapidly  to  the 
others  than  the  heat  will  cause  the  air 
to  expand  suddenly,  and  this,  together 
with  the  formation  of  gases  from  the 
burning,  will  cause  an  explosion. 

It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  that 
fine  sawdust  or  water  would  ordinarily 
be  classed  as  explosives.  The  term  is 
generally  applied  only  to  those  sub- 
stances that  may  be  very  easily  caused 
to  explode. 

The  oldest,  and  most  widely  known, 
explosive  that  we  possess  is  gunpow- 
der, the  invention  of  which  is  gen- 
erally credited  to  the  Chinese.  It  is  a 
mixture  of  potassium,  nitrate,  or  salt- 
peter, with  powdered  charcoal  and 
phur.  The  proportions  in  which  these 
substances  are  mixed  vary  in  different 
kinds  of  powder,  but  they  usually  do 
not  differ  much  from  the  following: 

Sulphur 10  per  cent. 

Charcoal   16  per  cent. 

Saltpeter 74  per  cent. 

The  explosive  quality  of  gunpowder 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  will  burn  with 
great  rapidity  without  contact  with  the 
air,  and  that  in  burning  it  liberates  large 
volumes  of  gas.  When  a  spark  is  in- 
trofhiced  into  it,  the  carbon,  charcoal, 
anfl  sulphur  combine  with  a  portion  of 
the  oxygen  contained  in  the  saltpeter 
to  form  carbonic  acid  gas  and  sulphur- 
ous acid  gas,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
nitrogen  contained  in  the  saltpeter  is 
set  free  in  the  gaseous  form.  'I'his  ac- 
tion takes  place  very  suddenly,  and  the 


206 


WHAT   SMOKELESS   POWDER    IS   MADE   OE 


volume  of  j^i'as  set  free  is  so  much 
greater  than  tliat  of  the  jjouder  lliat 
an   explosion   follows. 

In  the  manufacture  of  gunpowder  all 
that  is  absolutely  necessary  is  to  mix 
the  three  ingredients  thoroughly  and  in 
the  proper  ])roportions.  But  to  fit  the 
powder  for  use  in  firing  small  arms  and 
cannon  it  is  made  into  grains  of  various 
sizes,  the  small  sizes  being  used  for  the 
small  arms  with  short  barrels,  and  the 
large  sizes  for  cannon.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  if  the  powder  is  made  in 
very  small  grains  it  all  burns  at  once, 
and  the  explosion  takes  place  so  sud- 
denly that  an  exceedingly  strong  gun  is 
required  to  withstand  the  explosion, 
while  if  larger  grains  are  cmjiloyed  the 
])urning  is  slower  and  continues  until 
the  projectile  has  traveled  to  the  muzzle 
of  the  gun.  In  this  way  the  projectile 
is  fired  from  the  gun  with  as  much 
force  as  if  the  explosion  had  taken  ])lace 
at  once,  but  there  is  less  strain  on  the 
gun. 

What  Causes  the  Smoke  When  a  Gun 
Goes  Off? 

Powder  of  this  latter  kind  always 
produces  a  considerable  quantity  of 
smoke  when  it  is  fired,  because  there  is 
a  quantity  of  fine  particles  formed  from 
the  breaking  up  of  the  saltpeter  and 
from  some  of  the  charcoal  which  is  not 
completely  burned.  This  smoke  forms 
a  cloud  that  takes  some  time  to  clear 
away,  which  is  a  very  objectionable 
feature.  In  order  to  get  rid  of  it,  ef- 
forts were  made  to  j^roduce  a  substance 
that  would  explode  without  leaving  any 
solid  residue,  and  that  could  be  used  in 
giuis.  These  efforts  were  finally  suc- 
cessful, and  there  are  now  several 
brands  of  smokeless  powder  in  use. 

What  is  Smokeless  Powder  Made  Of? 

The  most  satisfactory  forms  of 
smokeless  powder  are  all  made  from 
guncotton  or  nitrocellulose.  This  sub- 
stance, which  is  made  by  treating  cotton 
with  a  mixture  of  nitric  and  sulphuric 
rcids,  is  a  chemical  compound,  not  a 
mixture  like  gimpowder ;  and  when  it 
i.s   exploded    it   is    all    converted     into 


gases,  of  which  the  chief  ones  are  car- 
bonic acid  gas,  nitrogen,  and  water- 
vapor.  To  cause  the  explosion  of  gun- 
cotton  it  is  not  necessary  to  burn  it,  but 
a  mere  shock  or  jar  will  cause  it  to  de- 
compose with  e.x])losive  violence.  Of 
course,  sucii  a  violent  ex])losive  as  this 
could  not  be  used  either  in  small  arms 
or  in  cannon,  but  guncotton  can  be  con- 
verted into  less  ex])losive  forms  which 
are  suitable  for  use  in  guns,  and  the 
majority ,  of  smokeless  powders  are 
made  in  this  way.  The  methods  used 
in  producing  the  smokeless  powders 
are  kept  secret  by  the  various  countries 
that  use  them. 

What  is  Nitroglycerine? 

Another  very  powerful  explosive, 
which  is  closely  related  to  guncotton,  is 
nitroglycerine.  Tliis  compound  is  made 
by  treating  glycerine  with  the  same  sort 
of  acid  mixture  that  is  used  in  making 
giuicotton.  It  explodes  in  the  same 
way  that  guncotton  does  and  yields  the 
same  products.  It  is  an  oily  liquid  of 
yellow  color,  and  on  account  of  its 
liquid  form  it  is  difificult  to  handle  and 
use.  The  difificulty  in  handling  nitro- 
glycerine led  to  the  plan  of  mixing  it 
A\ith  a  quantity  of  very  fine  sand  called 
infusorial  earth.  WHien  mixed  with  this 
a  solid  mass  called  dynamite  is  formed, 
v.hich  is  easier  to  handle  and  more  dif- 
ficult to  explode,  but  which  has  almost 
as  much  explosive  force  as  nitro- 
glycerine. 

A  more  powerful  explosive  than 
cither  nitroglycerine  or  guncotton  is 
obtained  by  mixing  them  together. 
When  this  is  done  the  guncotton  swells 
up  by  absorbing  the  nitroglycerine  and 
becomes  a  brownish,  jelly-like  sub- 
stance that  is  known  as  l)lasting  gelatin. 
This  is  generally  considered  the  most 
powerful    explosive    obtainable. 

What  Makes  Nitroglycerine   and  Gun- 
cotton   Explode   So   Readily? 

Let  us  now  consider  for  the  moment 
Avhat  it  is  that  makes  guncotton,  nitro- 
glyce!-'"e,  and  blasting  gelatin  explode 
so  readily.  The  explanation  is  found 
m  the  presence  in  them  of  nitrogen.    As 


WHAT   WORRY   IS 


207 


you  remember  from  what  you  learned 
about  air,  nitrogen  is  an  extremely  in- 
active element.  It  has  no  strong  tend- 
ency to  combine  with  other  elements, 
and  when  it  does  enter  into  combination 
with  them  the  compounds  formed  are 
almost  always  easily  decomposed.  In 
the  compounds  that  have  just  been  de- 
scribed a  shock  causes  a  loosening  of 
the  bonds  that  hold  the  nitrogen,  and 
the  whole  compound  goes  to  pieces  just 
as  an  arch  falls  when  the  keystone  is 
removed. 

What  Is  Silver  ? 

Since  the  earliest  time  recorded  in 
history,  silver  has  been  the  most  used 
of  the  precious  metals,  both  in  the  arts 
and  as  a  medium  of  exchange.  Even 
in  the  prehistoric  times  silver  mines 
were  worked  and  the  metal  w^as  em- 
ployed in  the  ornamental  and  useful 
arts.  It  was  not  so  early  used  as 
money,  and  when  it  began  to  be  adopted 
for  this  purpose,  it  was  made  into  bars 
or  rings  and  sold  by  w^eight.  The, first 
regular  coinage  of  either  gold  or  silver 
was  in  Phrygia,  or  Lydia,  in  Asia 
Minor.  Silver  was  used  in  the  arts  by 
the  Athenians,  the  Phoenicians,  the 
\^ikings,  the  Aztecs,  the  Peruvians,  and 
in  fact  by  all  the  civilized  and  semi- 
civilized  nations  of  antiquity.  It  is 
found  in  almost  every  part  of  the  globe, 
usually  in  combination  with  other 
metals.  The  mines  in  South  America, 
Mexico,  and  the  United  States  are  es- 
pecially rich.  Silver  is  sometimes  found 
in  huge  nuggets.  A  mass  weighing  800 
pounds  was  found  in  Peru,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  one  of  2,700  pounds  was 
extracted  in  Mexico.  The  ratio  of  the 
value  of  silver  and  gold  has  varied 
greatly.  At  the  Christian  era  it  was  9 
to  I  ;  500  A.D.  it  was  18  to  i ;  but  in 
1 100  A.D.  it  was  only  8  to  I.  In  i8<j3 
it  was  as  high  as  2,577  to  I.  The  sub- 
ject has  entered  largely  into  American 
politics  as  a  disturbing  element,  and  in 
iSit/)  the  Democratic  party,  in  its  na- 
tional convention,  declared  for  the  free 
coinage  of  the  metals  at  16  to  T.  The 
Re])ublican  jjarty  adhered  tf)  the  gold 
standarfl  and  declared  against  the  iruc 


coinage  of  silver.  Each  party  reaffirmed 
in  1900  this  plank  in  its  platform.  In 
both  years  the  Democrats  were  de- 
feated. 


What  Is  Worry? 

Worry  is  a  feeling  of  fear,  but  is 
never  of  the  present.  It  is  always 
about  something  that  may  happen  or 
that  has  happened.  It  is  generally  in 
the  future,  sometimes  in  the  past,  but 
never  in  the  present. 

An  animal  that  knows  neither  future 
nor  past  cannot  worry.  Babies,  living 
only  as  they  do  in  the  present,  cannot 
v.'orry.  All  creatures,  excepting  human 
beings,  live  only  in  the  present  and 
therefore  they  do  not  worry,  for  such 
creatures  cannot  remember  what  hap- 
pened in  the  past  or  guess  what  is  going 
to  happen. 

A  human  being  after  arriving  at  a 
certain  age  is  given  such  powers  that 
his  mind  can  go  back  to  the  past  and 
cast  itself  forward  into  the  future  as 
he  thinks  it  will  be,  because  he  has 
imagination.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we 
live  less  in  the  present  than  in  the  past 
or  future. 


Why  Do  We  Worry? 

W^e  worry  because  we  are  able 
through  a  power  called  self-conscious- 
ness to  place  ourselves  through  our 
minds  for  the  time  being.  Either — back 
somewhere  in  the  past  without  carrying 
our  ])hysical  bodies  with  us;  for  if  we 
could  take  our  bodies  with  us,  we 
would  be  in  the  present  again,  and 
then  w^orry  is  impossible ;  or,  we  use 
our  imagination  and  project  the  future 
entirely  apart  from  our  bodies,  for  we 
cannot  project  our  bodies  into  the  fu- 
ture, !Wd  if  we  could  we  would  again 
1)(  in  the  ])resent.  We  worry  over  go- 
ing to  have  an  o])eration  performcfj 
which  may  or  not  be  dangej'ous,  but 
finite  necessary.  We  may  still  think  we 
worry  when  the  operation  begins.  Iml 
as  soon  as  that  occurs  the  time  l)ecomes 
the  present,  and  though  we  may  fear, 
we  cannot   worry  in   ihc  presi-nt. 


208 


HOW    A  TUNNEL   IS   DUG   UNDER   WATER 


»x.^P^a«       .C       fc..^V»»- 


»a«.^C^e»      — C     «-jo.»-»i- 


;<4   t^\e,^   «>g    «5V>".  c\c> 


V///// ////////////////^^^ 

l_OT>gx>v>«*»»T»\     ■^««!iV^«»«>    V^TPogrt '3V>«c\J  <~roOT>e\ 


o;-<:t»-,»  ■».» 


c*Vrv  g  OoN^'^^ 


FIGURE    I. 


The  Story  in  a  Tunnel 


How  a  Tunnel  Is  Dug  Under  Water. 

Fig.  I.  On  the  left  is  a  cross  section 
showinq'.  in  diagram,  the  back  view  of 
a  shield.  The  heavy  black  circle  is  the 
"tail"'  or  "skin."  The  small  circles 
within  the  tail  are  the  hydraulic  rams 
which  at  a  pressure  of  5.000  pounds  to 
the  square  inch  force  the  shield  for- 
ward. The  square  compartments  within 
the  sihield  are  the  openings  through 
which  the  men  pass  to  dig  away  the 
ground.  In  the  middle  of  the  shield 
is  shown  the  swinging  "erector"  which 
picks  up  the  iron  lining  j)lates  and  puts 
them  in  position. 

The  view  on  the  right  is  a  longi- 
tudinal section  of  the  tunnel  showing 
the  shield  and  the  bulkhead  wall  across 
the  tunnel  with  the  air  locks  built  into 
it.  The  front  of  the  shield  ahead  of 
the  doors  is  made  with  a  sharp  edge 
called  the  "cutting  edge"  and  this  makes 


it  easier  for  the  shield  to  advance  in 
case  all  the  ground  in  front  has  not  been 
removed.  This  view  shows  how  the 
tail  overlaps  the  last  portion  of  the 
iron  lining. 

Some  distance  behind  the  shield 
comes  the  concrete  bulkhead  wall  with 
the  air  locks  contained  in  it.  There  are 
two  shown  in  the  view.  The  upper  one 
is  the  emergency  air  lock,  always  kept 
ready  so  that  in  case  of  an  accident  the 
men  have  a  means  of  escape  even 
though  the  lower  part  of  the  tunnel  is 
filled  with  rushing  water  or  mud.  The 
lower  air  lock  is  for  the  passage  of  men 
and  materials  during  ordinar}^  working. 
This  view  also  shows  that  all  the  tunnel 
ahead  of  the  bulkliead  wall  is  tmder 
compressed  air  while  the  finished  tunnel 
behind  the  bulkhead  wall  is  under  the 
ordinary  or  normal  air  pressure.  When 
the  tunnel  is  finished  the  air  locks  and 
bulkhead  walls  are  removed. 


FRONT   VIEW  OF  A   DRIVING   SHIELD 


209 


This  shows  the  front  of  one  of  the  shields  used  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  tunnels  crossing  the 
North  Kiver  at  New  Vork.  The  cutting  edge  is  clearly  seen  and  the  various  compartments,  each  with 
its  door,   which  divide   up  the   front  of  the   shield.     These   shields   weighed  about   200   tons  each. 


HOW  TUNNELS  ARE  BUILT. 


These  notes  describe  very  generally 
the  way'  in  w.hich  tunnels  are  built 
through  mud  and  gravel  under  parts 
of  the  sea  or  large  rivers  in  such  a  way 
that  the  men  who  build  them  are  pro- 
tected and  as  safe  as  the  carjjcnter  who 
is  building  a  house. 

The  way  these  tunnels  are  built  is 
called  the  "shield"  way  because  the  ma- 
chine used  is  called  a  shield.  It  is  given 
this  name  because  it  shields  the  tunnel 
builders  from  the  water  and  the  mud 
which  are  ready  at  every  moment  to 
overwhelm  them  and  kill  them. 

The  shield  was  invented  in  1818  by  a 
great  Engineer,  Marc  Isanibard  I'ruiiel, 
who  was  a  P^rcnchman  living  in  J'Jig- 
land.  The  idea  of  the  shield  came  to 
him  as  he  saw  how  the  sea  worm  which 
attacks  the  wooden  piles  of  docks  along 
the  shore  bores  the  holes  it  makes  in 


the  wood.  The  head  of  this  worm  is 
very  hard  and  can  'bite  its  way  througli 
the  hardest  woods.  As  it  goes  through 
the  wood  its  body  makes  a  hard  shelly 
coating  which  lines  the  holes  which  its 
head  has  made  and  prevents  the  hole 
from  getting  filled  up.  This  is  the 
general  idea  of  a  tunnel  built  by  a 
shield. 

The  first  shield  -was  used  by  Mr. 
Brunei  to  make  a  tunnel  across  the 
Thames  River  at  London,  F.nglaiul. 
This  is  still  the  biggest  tunnel  ever 
built  by  a  shield,  although  not  the  long- 
est, and  is  still  used  by  railroad  trains. 
This  tunnel  was  begun  in  1825  and  was 
finished  in  1843,  and  provides  a  history 
of  almost  unexampled  and  not-to-be- 
c.xcelled  coura-^c  in  attacking  difficultio-s 
and  skill  in  defeating  them. 

Since  iIr-  (la\s  of  Jirunel  many  great 


210 


HOW    THE   SHIELD   IS  PUSHED   FORWARD 


This  shows  the  rear  cml  or  tail  end  of  one  of  the  smaller  shields,  used  on  the  Hudson  and  Manhattan 
Railroad  tunnels  under  the  North  or  Hudson  River  at  New  York.  It  shows  the  skin,  the  hydraulic 
jacks  within  the  skin  and  the  piping  and  valves  fur  working  them.  It  also  shows  the  doors  leading  to 
the  front  or  "face."  The  erector  is  not  shown,  but  the  circular  hole  in  the  middle  shows  where  it 
would  be  attached. 


This  shows  one  side  of  an  air  lock  bulkhead 
wall  with  the  air  lock  in  place.  The  boiler- 
1 


Tlii»    i?   .1    rear   view    of   one    of   the    Pennsylvania    Tun- 
nel   shields,    taken    after    a    length     of    tunnel     had    been 


ike  appearance  of  the  lock  is  clearly  visible,  completed.  All  the  details  of  construction  are  shown, 
IS  well  as  the  door  and  the  pressure  gauge  but  in  this  case  the  erector  is  clearlv  seen  also.  1  he 
o  tell   the   air   pressure   inside   the   lock.  valves    which    control    the    erector    and    the    rams    which 


push  the  shield  forward  are  seen  near  the  top  of  the 
shield.  The  rods  across  the  tunnel  are  turn-buckles  used 
to  keen  the  iron  lining  from  getting  out  of  shape  in 
the  soft  mud.  These  are  removed  later.  The  floor  and 
tracks  in  the  bottom  are  temporary  and  are  used  for 
brinffing    materials    to    and    from    the    shield. 


WHO    INVENTED   THE    COMPRESSED   AIR   METHOD 


211 


improvements  have  been  made  in  the 
shield  and  in  the  way  of  working  it  but 
the  same  idea  is  still  there. 

After  the  days  of  Brunei's  shield  an- 
other great  help  was  given  to  tunnel 
builders  by  the  invention  of  the  use  of 
compressed  air  to  hold  back  the  water 
which  saturates  the  ground  in  which  the 
tunnel  is  being  built. 

The  first  real  invention  of  compressed 
air  for  this  purpose  was  made  by  Ad- 
miral Sir  Thomas  Cochrane  who,  in 
1830,  took  out  a  patent  for  the  use  of 
compressed  air  to  expel  the  water  from 
the  ground  in  shafts  and  tunnels  and, 
by  this  means,  to  convert  the  ground 
from  a  condition  of  quicksand  to  one 
of  firmness.  This  patent  covers  all 
the  essential  features  of  compressed  air 
working. 

As  suggested  above,  the  thing  which 
compressed  air  does  in  a  tunnel  is  to 
push  the  water  out  from  all  the  spaces 
which  it  fills  in  the  ground,  so  that  the 
men  who  are  digging  away  the  ground 
for  the  tunnel  are  working  in  firm  dry 
ground  instead  of  a  mixture  of  earth 
and  water  which  will  nm  into  and  fill 
the  hole  they  dig  as  soon  as  it  is  dug. 

Whenever  a  timnel  is  being  built  be- 
low a  body  of  water  through  ground 
which  is  porous,  or  in  other  words 
through  any  ground  except  solid  rock 
or  dense  clay,  the  water  fills  every  crev- 
ice and  space  in  the  ground  and  is  ex-: 
erting  a  pressure  of  about  half  a  pound 
per  square  inch  above  the  ordinary 
pressure  of  the  air,  (which  is  15  pounds 
to  the  square  inch)  for  every  foot  of 
depth  below  the  surface  of  the  water ; 
so  that  supposing  the  tunnel  is  40  feet 
below  the  water  the  water  has  a  pres- 
sure of  nearly  20  pounds  per  square 
inch  on  every  square  inch  of  the  sur- 
face of  the  tunnel.  This  pressure  causes 
the  water  to  flow  violently  into  any  hole 
or  opening  that  is  made  in  the  ground, 
and,  unless  the  water  is  prevented  from 
moving  by  some  means  or  other,  the 
rr|)ening  made  would  be  very  quicklv 
filled  with  water  and  also  with  'ground 
as  the  rush  of  water  will  carry  tlic  sand, 
gravel  (^ir'mud  with  it. 

By  Cochrane's   invention  the   whole 


tunnel  is  filled  with  air  under  a  pressure 
equal  to  the  pressure  of  the  water.  This 
compressed  air  therefore  balances  the 
pressure  of  the  water  and  holds  it  back 
from  moving,  and  if  the  pressure  of 
the  air  is  made  slightly  greater  than 
that  of  the  water  the  water  is  driven 
back  from  the  tunnels  for  a  short  dis- 
tance so  that  when  the  tunnel  is  being 
dug  the  ground  instead  of  being  wet  is 
quite  dry. 

This  explains  the  principles  of  the 
shield  and  compressed  air  way  of  mak- 
ing a  tunnel. 

The  following  describes  very  shortly 
how  these  principles  are  put  to  actual 
use. 

Most  tunnels  which  are  built  by 
shield  and  compressed  air  under  rivers 
or  arms  of  the  sea  are  lined  with  cast 
iron  plates  to  protect  the  railway  or 
roadway  which  is  in  the  tunnel. 

The  tunnel  is  a  circular  tube,  or  shell, 
and  the  plates  have  flanges  on  all  sides 
which  are  bolted  together.  This  shell 
is  put  into  place,  plate  by  plate,  by 
means  of  the  shield  which  not  only 
protects  the  workmen  and  the  work 
under  construction,  but  which  helps  to 
build  the  iron  shell.  In  fact  it  cor- 
responds to  the  sea  worm  which  bores 
through  the  wood  and  lines  the  hole 
with  a  shell.  In  the  case  of  the  tunnel 
the  shell  is  made  of  iron.  The  shield 
itself  consists  of  a  steel  tube  or  cylinder 
slightly  bigger  in  diameter  than  the  tube 
or  tunnel  it  is  intended  to  build.  The 
front  edge  of  this  shield  is  made  up 
of  a  ring  of  sharp  edged  castings  which 
form  what  is  called  the  "cutting  edge." 
Just  behind  the  cutting  edge  is  a  bulk- 
head or  wall  of  steel,  in  which  are  open- 
ings which  may  be  opened  or  closcrl  at 
will.  Behind  this  bulkhead  are  placed 
a  number  of  hydraulic  jacks  or  prcsse.4 
arranged  around  the  shield  and  within 
it,  so  that  by  thrusting  against  the  last 
erected  ring  of  iron  'lining  the  whole 
shield  is  pushed  forward.  The  rear  end 
of  the  shield  is  a  continuation  of  the 
cylinder  which  forms  the  front  end, 
and  this  part,  called  the  "tail,"  always 
f)verlaps  the  last  few  feet  of  the  built 
up  iron  ihcll. 


•2\: 


HOW  THE  SHIELD  CUTS  THROLQH  THE  GROUND 


This  IS  a  photograph  of  a  model  of  the  Pennsylvania  Tunnels  to  New  York  City,  made  for  the  James- 
town Tercentenary  Exposition  of  1907.  It  is  given  because  it  illustrates,  as  no  photograph  of  actual 
work  could  do.  the  relationship  between  the  shield,  the  tunnel  itself  and  the  air  lock.  This  view  shows 
the  rear  part  of  the  shield  on  the  extreme  left,  with  the  erector  picking  up  an  iron  plate.  It  shows  a 
man  bringing  a  car  with  two  of  the  iron  plates  up  to  the  shield.  Behind  this  man  comes  the  bulkhead 
wall  with  the  emergency  air  lock  in  the  top  and  the  ordinary  air  lock  for  passing  in  and  out  at  the  bottom. 
It  also  shows  the  upper  platform  to  the  emergency  lock  along  which  the  men  can  get  to  the  emergency 
lock   m  case  of  an  accident. 


The  diagram,  Fig.  1,  shows  more 
clearly  what  is  meant.  From  an  in- 
spection of  Figure  1  it  is  clear  that, 
when  the  openings  in  the  shield  bulk- 
head are  closed,  the  tunnel  is  protected 
from  an  inrush  of  either  water  or  earth  ; 
the  openings  in  the  bulkhead  may  be 
so  regulated  that  control  is  maintained 
over  the  material  passed  through.  After 
a  ring  of  iron  lining  has  been  erected 
within  the  tail  of  the  shield,  the  shield 
doors  are  opened  and  men  go  through 
them  and  dig  out  enough  earth  for  the 
shield  to.  go  ahead.  The  rams  are  then 
thrust  out  thus  pushing  the  shield 
ahead.     Another  ring  of  iron   is  built 


up  within  the  tail  for  which  purpose 
an  hydraulic  swinging  arm,  called  the 
"erector,"  is  mounted  on  the  shield  face. 
This  erector  picks  up  the  plates  and 
puts  them  into  position,  one  by  one, 
while  the  men  bolt  them  together.  Ex- 
cavation is  then  carried  on  again  and 
the  whole  round  of  work  repeated,  gain- 
ing every  time  the  jacks  are  rammed 
or  thrust  out  a  length  equal  to  the 
length  of  one  ring  of  iron  lining.  In- 
carrying  out  this  -work  in  ground 
charged  with  water  the  shield  is  assisted 
by  introducing  compressed  air  as  de- 
scribed before.  To  use  the  compressed 
air  thick  bulkhead  walls  of  masonrv  are 


This    IS    auulher    vit;\ 
the   air   locks   are    clearl'- 


shown. 


san.e    model,    but    showing    the    front    view    jt    tiie    slueld.      The    doors    on 


THE   DANGER  WHEN   LEAKS   OCCUR 


213 


built  across  the  tunnel  behind  the  shield 
and  into  the  space  between  the  shield 
and  the  bulkhead  wall  air  is  pumped, 
compresses  to  the  same  pressure  as  that 
of  the  water  in  the  iground,  or  in  other 
words  the  pressure  of  the  air  in  pounds 
per  square  inch  is  about  half  the  num- 
ber of  feet  the  tunnel  is  below  the  water 
surface.  This  dries  the  ground  and 
simplifies  enormously  the  difficulty  of 
working  in  it.  The  diagram,  (Fig.  1) 
shows  a  bulkhead  wall  across  the  tun- 
nel. In  order  to  pass  from  the  ordinary 
air  outside  the  bulkhead  into  the  com- 
pressed air  inside  it,  all  the  men  and 
the  materials  have  to  pass  through  the 
"air  locks"  which  are  built  into  the  wall. 


the  outside.  The  door  at  the  end  has 
been  tightly  closed  to  prevent  the  com- 
pressed air  from  rushing  out.  We  close 
the  door  behind  us  and  are  now  tight- 
ly shut  in  the  boiler-like  lock.  We  now 
open  a  valve  and  compressed  air  be- 
gins to  flow  quickly  into  the  air  lock 
and  the  air  gets  hotter  and  hotter,  due 
to  the  compression  of  the  air.  Very 
likely  an  intense  pain  begins  to  make 
itself  felt  in  the  ears  but  by  swallow- 
ing hard  and  blowing  the  nose  it  may 
be  relieved.  It  is  caused  by  the  air 
pressure  being  greater  on  the  outside 
of  the  ear  drum  than  on  the  inside.  If 
the  delicate  ear  passages  are  choked, 
because  of  a  cold  or  some  such  reason, 


They  are  callerl  air  locks  because  they 
are  like  the  locks  on  a  canal  which  raise 
the  water  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  level 
or  lower  it  from  a  higher  to  a  ln<wer 
level  as  the  case  may  lie.  The  differ- 
ence is  that  an  air  lock  enables  one  to 
pass  from  air  at  a  low  pressure  to  one 
of  a  higher,  or  vice  versa.  .Xn  air  lock 
is  made  like  a  larj^^c  boiler  with  a  door 
at  each  end.  If  we  wish  to  enter  the 
compressed  air  wc  enter  the  lock  from 


it  is  unsafe  to  go  further  or  the  car 
drum  may  burst.  When  the  ]>rcssure 
in  the  air  lock  has  reached  that  in  the 
working  chamber,  the  door  leading  to 
the  shield  may  be  oi^cned  and  wc  can 
pass  to  the  working  space  and  note 
the  work  going  on.  There  is  no  espe- 
cial bodily  sensation  to  be  felt  excc])! 
a  slight  cxhilaralir)n  and  it  is  curious 
to  find  that  one  cannot  whistle.  On 
leaving  I  he  compressed  air  we  enter  the 


214 


MAKING  THE   JOINTS  WATER  TIGHT 


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THE  REMARKABLE  ACCURACY   OF  ENGINEERING 


215 


Usually  when  crossing,  with  a  tunnel,  a  wide  river  or  estuary  the  tunnel  is  started  from  each  shore 
and  the  shields  are  pushed  through  the  ground  until  they  meet  somewhere  about  the  middle  of  the  river. 
This  shows  two  of  the  Pennsylvania  tunnel  shields  which  have  met  far  below  the  Hudson  River.  The 
white  arrow  shows  where  each  shield  ends.  The  platform  of  one  shield  on  which  the  man  stands 
corresponds  exactly  with  the  platform  of  the  other  shield.  As  may  be  imagined,  it  takes  very  careful 
and  skillful  engineering  and  surveying  work,  both  before  the  work  is  begun  and  while  it  is  being  carried 
out,  to  enable  tunnel  shields  to  meet  like  this.  This  part  of  the  art  of  tunnelling  would  take  an  article 
to    itself. 


air  'lock  by  the  door  we  left;  a  valve 
is  turned'^nd  the  air  begins  to  escape 
and  "the  pressure  in  the  air  lock  begins 
to  go  down.  As  it  does  so  the  air  be- 
comes colder  and  colder  and  the  whole 
lock  is  filled  with  a  wet  fog  due  to  the 
chilling  by  expansion  of  the  air.  The 
air  has  to  be  allowed  to  escape  very 
slowly,  as  bubbles  of  air  and  gas  other- 
wise form  in  the  blood  vessels  and  tis- 
sues of  the  body  giving  rise  to  the  very 
painful  complaint  known  to  tunnel 
Ijuildcrs  as  "the  bends,"  and  in  very 
serious  cases  to  paralysis  and  even 
death.  The  higher  the  air  pressure  the 
more  slowly  must  one  come  out  into 
the  ordinary  air. 

When  the  shield  has  been  pushed 
across  the  entire  length  of  the  water 
way  which  has  to  be  tunnelled,  and  the 
whole  of  the  iron  tu'l>e  or  shell  is  in 
j)lace,  a  thick  lining  of  concrete  is 
placed  inside  the  iron  shell  to  protect 
it  and  make  the  tunnel  stronger.     As 


an  added  safeguard  wherever  the  tun- 
nel is  in  rock,  gravel,  strong  clay  or 
other  ground  which  is  not  so  soft  that  it 
does  not  close  tightly  in  on  the  outside 
of  the  tube,  liquid  cement  is  forced  by 
compressed  air  through  holes  made  in 
the  iron  plates  for  this  puri:)Ose.  This 
liquid  cement  enters  every  pore  or  crev- 
ice in  the  surrounding  ground  and  when 
it  has  set  hard  it  still  further  protects 
the  iron  with  a  coating  of  cement. 
Pieces  have  been  cut  out  of  the  iron 
lining  of  a  tunnel  built  under  the  river 
Thames  at  London,  I^ngland,  in  1869, 
which  showed  that  the  iron  at  all  places 
was  as  good  as  the  day  it  was  first  put 
in  forty  years  before,  and  iron  put  in 
the  lining  of  the  Hudson  River  Tuniu'l 
about  1878  when  removed  after  thirty 
years  was  in  ])erfect  condition. 

This  account  of  tunnelling  by  shield 
and  compressed  air  is  very  sliort  and 
gives  no  more  than  a  bare  statcuicnt  of 
the    principles   and    chief   methods    of 


SHIELD   AT   END   OF  JOURNE^ 


THE  LAND  END  OF  A  GREAT  TUNNEL  UNDER  THE  HUDSON    217 


HODSON  &  MANHATTAN  R.  R. 


I  MIS     VH-w     IS    KivM     1.1    -ii.iv.     Iiow    <.irii| lU.i    .im     ii  i  i.  i.  i  k  m  ii  i , ,.  I     -iiiulilli-     in.iy     li.n  r     {<>    Kr     lll.nlv     li.     I.il>> 

care  of  the  rcf|iiircments  of  traHic.  'I  liis  view  hIiows  tlic  three  Krcat  reinforceil  concrete  caissons  sunk 
thruueh  the  earth  at  Jersey  City  i.;  order  to  contain  the  switches  and  crossings  rconired  to  form  the 
New    Jersey    connections   of    the    nptowii    anrl    flowntown    tnnnels    of    the    Hndson    and    Manhattan    Railroad. 

These  caissons  were  sunk  tinder  air  jiressure  l)y  excavating  l)elow  litem  just  as  thongh  they  were 
tunnels  tui'ncd  up  on  end.  In  sinking  these  caissons  the  material  iiassed  throuKh  was  water  lojjRed'  inade 
Kround,  and  the  hulls  ol  two  sunken  canal  boats  were  encountered  and  had  to  he  cut  into  |)ieces  small 
enough   to   be   taken   out   throiii^h   the   locks. 

The  usual  passenKcr  rushuiK  at  high  speed  in  the  trains  between  Jersey  Citv  and  Newark  and  New 
York   has  little   idea  of  the  very  complicated   structure   necessary  to  allow   of   his   iloinR   so. 

The  information  in  this  article  was  suiiplieil  by  Jacobs  &  l)avics,  Inc.,  CoiistiltinB  Enffincers,  .10 
rhurch  Street,  New  York,  the  Kngineers  for  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  Hudson  River  Tunnels,  tlie  Hudson 
and   Manhattan   Railroad,  and  many  other  tunnels  in   various  parts  of  the   world. 

The  illustrations  were  kindly  supplitd  by  tlie  Pennsylvania  RailroacI  and  the  Hudson  and  Manhattan 
Riilroad. 


218 


DANGERS   OF   TUNNEL   BUILDING 


such  work.  Xothin«;  has  been  saiil  of 
tlic  eiii^ineeriiig^  difficulties  involved  in 
the  desijjn  of  sucii  work,  nor  of  the 
delicate  surveying;  work  necessarv  if 
one  should  hope  to  start  two  shields  a 
mile  or  two  apart  and  have  theni  meet 
as  shown  in  Fig.  13  like  two  great  glass 
tumblers  placed  rim  to  riin  after  having 
travelleil  through  thousands  of  feet  of 
every  kind  of  ground.  Xothing  has 
been  said  of  the  men  who  work  on 
this  most  arduous  form  of  subterranean 
navigation,  ho^v  they  cheerfully  face 
the  dark  and  the  water  ever  threaten- 
ing above  them  and  the  unseen  but  not 
less  deadly  ally,  and  yet  foe.  the  com- 
pressed air,  with  its  dreaded  result,  the 
bends,  or  the  men  on  the  surface  who 
keep  the  air  compressors  running  with- 
out pause  or  stop  day  in  and  day  out 
imtil  the  work  is  done  so  tliat  tlicir 
comrades  below  may  work  in  safety. 
Nothing  has  been  said  of  the  curious 
accidents  that  are  liable  to  occur  as 
Avhen  the  air  pressure  in  the  tunnel  gets 
too  high,  overbalances  the  water  pres- 
sure and  blows  a  hole  tliroiigh  the 
river-bed  and  forms  a  geyser  in  the 
river  above.  It  gives  no  account  of  the 
special  difficulties  which  arise  when 
special  conditions  are  found ;  for  ex- 
ample, when  the  lower  part  of  the  tun- 
nel is  in  rock  and  the  tipper  part  is  in 
soft  material.  In  fact  it  is  nothing 
more  than  a  bare  outline  but  it  'hoped 
that  some,  who  may  not  be  clear  in  their 
minds  as  to  how  tunnels  are  built,  may 
learn  some  of  the  first  princi])les  of 
this  most  romantic  kind  of  work  from 
tins  bald  narrative. 


Why  Do  My  Teeth  Chatter? 

Your  teeth  chatter  because  when  you 
are  cold  in  a  way  that  makes  your 
teeth  chatter  the  little  muscles  which 
close  the  jaw  act  in  a  series  of  cjuick 
little  contractions  which  pull  the  jaw 
up.  and  then  let  it  fall  by  its  own 
weight.  This  is  repeated  many  times 
and,  as  the  action  is  quick,  the  chatter- 
ing occurs.  It  is  a  peculiar  thing  that 
this  occurs  in  spite  of  the  will  or  brain. 


when,  as  a  mailer  of  fact,  these  muscles 
wiiich  operate  the  jaws  are  especially 
under  the  control  of  the  brain.  The 
chattering  is  really  a  spasm  caused  by 
the  cold,  and  all  spasms  act  indepen- 
dent of  the  will.  Cold  seems  to  act 
on  the  jaw  muscles  a  good  deal  like 
some  poisons  which  cause  spasms. 


Where  Did  All  the  Water  in  the  Oceans 
Come  From? 

No,  it  did  not  come  from  the  rivers 
which  empty  themselves  into  the 
oceans,  because  the  oceans  were  there 
before  the  rivers  existed.  Part  of  it 
comes  from  the  rivers  now,  but  only  a 
little  in  com]:)arison  to  all  the  water 
there  is  in  the  ocean.  I  will  try  to  tell 
you  simply  how  all  the  water  got  into 
the  ocean. 

There  was  a  time  when  there  was  no 
water  on  the  earth  at  all.  That  was 
when  the  earth  was  red  hot,  just  as  it 
is  to-day  on  the  inside,  and  at  that 
time  all  the  water  we  have  to-day  was 
up  in  the  air  in  the  form  of  gases. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  if  you 
take  two  gases,  one  called  hydrogen 
and  the  other  oxygen,  and  mix  them 
the  right  way,  they  will  turn  into  water, 
and  if  you  had  the  right  kind  of  chem- 
ical apparatus  you  could  take  water 
and  turn  it  into  these  gases  again. 
When,  then,  the  earth  was  still  all  red 
hot,  all  of  our  water  was  up  in  the  air 
in  the  form  of  these  two  gases.  Then, 
later  on,  when  the  amount  of  heat  on 
the  earth  was  just  right  to  make  these 
gases  mix  together,  the  water  came 
down  out  of  the  air  in  great  quantities, 
and  there  was  so  much  of  it  that  it 
completely  covered  the  whole  earth  and 
no  land  was  visible.  Later  on,  for 
various  reasons,  mountains  were 
thrown  up  on  the  earth's  surface  by 
great  earthquakes,  and  every  time  a 
mountain  or  a  high  ])lace  was  formed 
there  had  to  be  a  hole  or  low  place 
some  place  else,  and  the  water  ran  into 
these  low  places  and  stayed  there,  and 
that  uncovered  more  of  the  land,  be- 
cause there  wasn't  enough  water  to  fill 
all  the  holes  and  cover  the   land  too. 


•^— ^BTSiW 


WHERE  THE  WATER  IN  THE  OCEANS  CAME  FROM 


219 


and  that  is  what  makes  our  continents 
and  islands  and  all  of  the  land  we  see. 
There  is  now  about  three  times  as  much 
earth  covered  with  water  as  there  is 
land.  Of  course,  the  sun  is  always 
picking  up  water  through  what  is  called 
evaporation,  which  means  that  it  is 
taken  into  the  air  in  the  form  of  gases. 
Later  it  comes  down  again  in  the  form 
of  rain  and  falls  into  the  oceans  or  on 
the  land,  where  it  sinks  in,  finally  find- 
ing a  stream  or  river,  and  sooner  or 
later  gets  back  into  the  ocean  again. 

Why  Don't  the  Water  in  the  Ocean  Sink 
In? 

This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
a  kind  of  substance  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean  which  the  water  cannot  pene- 
trate, in  spite  of  the  tremendous  pres- 
sure which  the  great  body  of  deep 
water  exerts.  In  all  places  where  the 
bottom  of  the  ocean  has  a  covering 
\\hich  water  can  sink  into  it  does  so, 
but  there  are  such  a  few  places  where 
this  is  possible,  by  comparison,  that  the 
amount  that  gets  out  that  way  is  not 
noticeable.  This  water,  if  it  can  keep 
on  going,  will  eventually  reach  the  in- 
side of  the  earth,  where  it  is  red  hot, 
and  is  turned  into  steam. 


Where   Does   the   Water   in  the    Ocean 
G-o  at  Low  Tide? 

To  get  to  the  answer  of  this  you  must 
know  something  about  the  tides.  The 
tide  is  caused  by  the  pull  of  the  moon 
on  the  waters  in  the  ocean.  The  moon 
revolves  about  the  earth  once  each  day 
and  has  the  ability  to  draw  up  the 
waters  in  the  ocean  toward  it,  as  we 
have  seen  in  our  study  of  the  tides. 

Now,  when  it  is  high  tide  in  one 
place  it  is  low  tide  in  another.  The 
moon  docs  not  make  more  water,  but 
Mily  jmlls  it  towarrl  it  from  side  to  side. 
When  it  is  low  tide  where  we  are  the 
water  has  simply  moved  as  a  body  to- 
ward the  place  where  it  is  high  tide. 

The  tides  act  a  good  deal  like  a  see- 
saw, cxce[)t  that  they  move  from  side  to 
side  instead  of  u])  and  down.  When  one 
end  of  the  see-saw  goes  u])  the  other 


end  goes  down,  and  when  the  "down" 
end  comes  up  the  other  end  goes  down. 
So  the  answer  to  your  question  really 
is  that  at  low  tide  the  water  which  made 
it  high  tide  a  few  hours  before  has  gone 
to  some  place  where  it  is  at  that  mo- 
ment high  tide. 

Why  Does  the  Ocean  Look  Blue  at  Times 
and  at  Other  Times  Green? 

Sometimes  when  we  look  at  the  ocean 
from  the  pavilion  or  while  on  the  sand 
of  our  favorite  bathing  beach  the  water 
in  the  ocean  looks  very  beautifully  blue, 
9nd  on  other  days  will  look  dark  green 
from  the  same  point.  Why  is  it?  If 
you  will  stop  to  think  that  at  night  when 
there  is  no  moon  or  other  light  the 
water  in  the  ocean  looks  black,  I  think 
you  will  soon  be  on  the  right  track  to 
answer   the  question   yourself. 

When  the  sky  is  blue — the  kind  of 
blue  we  like  to  see  in  the  sky  when  we 
are  at  the  beach — the  water  in  the 
ocean  is  blue,  because  the  sea  reflects 
the  color  of  the  sky,  and  when  the  sky 
is  overcast  and  gray  the  color  reflected 
by  the  sea  will  be  gray  also. 

But,  say  you,  sometimes  the  water 
in  the  ocean  is  dark  green,  and  yet 
the  sky  is  never  green.  Quite  true, 
and  I  will  try  to  tell  you  what  produces 
the  green  color.  This  happens  some- 
times where  the  water  is  shallow, 
either  near  the  shore  or  out  further 
where  there  is  a  sandbar  or  other  shal- 
low place.  Sometimes  at  such  points 
the  sunlight  strikes  the  water  at  such 
an  angle  that  the  rays  go  clear  to  the 
bottom  and  are  reflected  from  that 
point — the  bottom — to  our  eyes.  In 
such  a  case  the  light  will  be  changed 
through  a  combination  of  the  color  of 
the  bottom  at  that  point  and  the  color 
of  the  sky  itself  at  the  time  to  make 
tbic  color  green  as  it  is  reflected  to  our 
eyes  from  \hv  bottom. 

Why  Does  Water  Run? 

Water  runs  because  it  has  not  enough 
of  anything  in  it  to  make  it  stick  to- 
gether. 

In  school  language  we  call  this  stick- 


22(J 


WHAT   MAKES   WATER    BOIL 


ing-together-thinj^  "cohesion."  The 
principle  of  cohesion  makes  all  the  dif- 
ference there  is,  so  to  speak,  between 
solids,  liquids  and  gases.  A  brick,  a 
stone,  a  stick  of  wood,  or  a  piece  of 
iron  and  all  other  solid  substances  have 
a  certain  amount  of  this  property  of 
cohesion,  and  the  particles  stick  to- 
gether, enabling  us  to  build  buildings 
and  other  things  which  become  perma- 
nent structures.  These  solid  substances 
are  either  naturally  cohesive  or  else 
nian,  as  in  the  case  of  the  brick,  has 
brought  together  certain  things  with 
little  or  no  cohesion  and  made  them 
stick  together  permanently.  In  the  case 
of  the  brick,  he  takes  a  quantity  of  clay, 
which  is  cohesive  only  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, bakes  it  in  an  oven  and  it  becomes 
hard  enough — more  cohesive — so  that 
he  can  pile  one  on  top  of  the  other 
and  make  a  building.  Then  he  puts 
sand,  mixed  with  other  things — lime 
and  water — between  the  bricks  to  hold 
the  bricks  together,  and  makes  a  struc- 
ture that  will  last.  Two  bricks  have  no 
natural  cohesion  for  each  other  and, 
therefore,  they  can  only  be  held  to- 
gether by  something  that  has  cohesion 
within  itself  and  also  for  the  bricks. 
The  lime,  sand  and  water  make  mortar 
which  is  cohesive  when  properly  mixed, 
while  in  themselves  neither  lime  nor 
sand  have  much  cohesive  property,  and 
w^ater  has  none  at  all. 

Liquids  have  little  or  no  cohesion. 
Water  has  none,  or  very  little.  Syrup 
has  a  good  deal  more,  but  will  run  over 
the  edge  of  a  piece  of  bread  and  butter 
if  you  are  not  careful. 

Gases  have  no  cohesive  properties  at 
all  and,  therefore,  fly  all  over  the  place, 
through  any  opening  they  can  find, 
either  at  the  top  of  the  room  or  under 
the  crack  of  the  door.  They  are  always 
trying  to  get  to  some  place  else  and  will 
keep  moving  as  long  as  not  confined. 
Gases  can  move  in  any  direction. 

Liquids,  however,  while  they  are  in- 
clined to  be  constantly  on  the  move,  can 
only  go  in  one  direction — down  hill,  and 
they  go  down  fast  or  slow  if  there  is  a 
chance,  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
stick-together  properties  they  have. 
Liquids  can  never  go  up  of  their  own 


accord,  excepting  in  the  process  of 
evaporation,  and  then  only  when 
changed  into  gases.  A  lake  of  water 
will  dry  up  completely  by  evaporation 
unless  fed  by  streams  of  water  con- 
stantly flowing  in,  because  evaporation 
is  constantly  taking  place  wherever 
water  is  exposed  to  the  air. 

What  Makes  the  Water  Boil? 

What  we  call  boiling  in  the  water 
we  see  when  water  is  put  over  a  hot 
fire  long  enough  to  make  it  boil,  is  the 
changing  of  the  water  from  what  we 
generally  regard  it — a  liquid — into 
gases.  Water  consists  of  two  gases — 
hydrogen  and  oxygen — in  fact,  two 
parts  of  hydrogen  gas  and  one  part  of 
oxygen  gas  when  mixed  will  always 
make  pure  water.  Now,  then,  if  liquid 
water  is  heated  to  a  certain  point  or 
temperature  it  turns  into  the  two  gases, 
oxygen  and  hydrogen,  and'  comes  to 
the  top  of  the  water,  which  still  re- 
mains in  liquid  form,  in  the  form  of  a 
bubble  and  explodes  into  the  air — not 
a  very  loud  explosion,  but  still  an  explo- 
sion. The  process  of  turning  liquid 
water  into  gases  is  a  gradual  one,  and 
that  is  why  the  water  does  not  all  turn 
into  one  large  bubble  at  once  and  ex- 
plode away.  If  you  keep  the  fire  going 
long  enough,  all  the  water  in  the  vessel 
will  explode  away  into  the  air,  a  few 
bubbles  at  a  time.  If  you  hold  a  cold 
plate  over  the  vessel  as  the  bubble  ex- 
plodes you  can  catch  some  of  these 
gases  in  the  form  of  bubbles  on  the 
under  side  of  the  plate,  which  are  again 
liquid  water.  When  the  water  becomes 
hot  enough  it  turns  into  bubbles  and  as 
bubbles  rise  that  is  wdiat  makes  the 
boiling  you  see.  When  the  same  gases 
then  come  together  again  in  a  certain 
proportion  under  proper  temperature 
they  turn  into  liquid  water. 

At  What  Point  of  Heat  Does  Water  Boil  ? 
The  boiling  point  of  water  is  the 
temperature  at  which  it  begins  to  pass 
into  the  form  of  gases.  This  varies  in 
dififerent  altitudes.  At  the  sea  level  the 
boiling  point  is  at  212°  Fahrenheit.  On 
the    top    of    mountains,    for    instance, 


WHAT   WE   MEAN   BY   FAHRENHEIT 


221 


w  ater  would  boil  at  a  much  lower  tem- 
perature. It  would  be  possible  to  go 
high  enough  in  a  balloon  so  that  the 
water  would  fly  from  the  pan  in  the 
form  of  gas  without  making  the  water 
hot.  Also,  a  mile  below  the  level  of 
the  sea  it  would  take  many  more  de- 
grees of  heat  to  make  the  water  boil. 
It  is  said  that  high  up  in  a  balloon 
you  could  not  boil  an  egg  hard  in  a 
pan  of  boiling  water  if  you  kept  it  in 
the  boiling  water  for  an  hour  or  more, 
whereas  we  know  that  an  egg  will  be 
hard-boiled  if  we  keep  it  in  boiling 
water  down  where  we  live  for  more 
than   five   minutes. 

The  degree  of  heat  at  which  w^ater 
passes  away  into  the  form  of  gases  is 
regulated  by  the  pressure  of  the  air 
on  the  water  and  other  things  about  us. 
At  the  average  level  in  the  United 
States  where  people  live  the  pressure  of 
the  air  on  everything  is  fifteen  pounds 
to  the  square  inch,  and  at  this  pressure 
water  boils  only  after  it  reaches  a  tem- 
perature of  212°  Fahrenheit.  As  we 
go  up  the  mountains  the  pressure  be- 
comes less  and  less  as  we  go  up.  At 
the  top  of  Mount  Blanc,  which  is  15,781 
feet  high,  water  boils  at  185°  Fahren- 
heit. If  we  took  a  balloon  from  the  top 
of  the  mountain  we  would  come  to  a 
height  where  there  was  no  air  pressure 
at  all. 

What  Do  We  Mean  by  Fahrenheit? 

The  name  Fahrenheit  is  used  to  dis- 
tinguish the  kind  of  scale  most  com- 
p-iOnly  used  on  thermometers  in  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Gabriel 
Daniel  Fahrenheit,  a  native  of  Dantzic, 
made  the  first  thermometer  on  which 
this  scale  was  used,  and  .it  is  named 
after  him.  In  this  scale  for  thermome- 
ters the  space  between  the  freezing 
point  and  the  boiling  point  is  divided 
into  180  degrees — the  point  for  freez- 
ing being  marked  32  degrees  and  the 
Ijoiling   point    212   degrees. 

Why  Can't  We  Swim  as  Easily  in  Fresh 

Water  as  in  Salt  Water? 

Our  bodies  are  heavier  than  fresh 
water,  i.  e.,  a  bulk  of  fresh  water  equal 
\<,  the  size  of  our  body   would   weigli 


less  than  our  body,  so  that  the  first 
tendency  is  to  sink  to  the  bottom  if 
we  find  ourselves  in  fresh  water.  If 
man  had  not  learned  to  swim  that  is 
what  he  would  always  do,  sink  to  the 
bottom  ;  but  having  learned  how  to  keep 
from  sinking,  he  is  able  to  swim  in 
fresh  water.  However,  we  find  that 
an  amount  of  salt  water  equal  to 
the  bulk  of  a  man  in  size  is  heavier 
than  an  equal  amount  of  fresh  water, 
although  such  a  bulk  of  ordinary  salt 
sea  water  will  still  weigh  less  than  the 
man.  A  man  will  sink  in  salt  water 
also  if  he  has  not  learned  to  swim  or 
float,  but  he  can  keep  up  with  less  efifort 
in  salt  water,  and  also  swim  in  it  more 
easily.  In  a  nutshell,  then,  the  answer 
to  this  question  is  that  salt  water  is 
heavier  than  fresh  water.  You  can 
make  salt  water  so  full  of  salt  that  it 
becomes  heavier  than  a  man.  Great 
Salt  Lake  in  Utah  is  so  salty  that  one 
cannot  sink  in  it  for  this  reason.  You 
could  drown  yourself  in  it,  of  course, 
by  keeping  your  head  under,  water,  but 
whether  in  shallow  water  or  deep 
water  you  would  not  sink  in  Great  Salt 
Lake. 

Why  Do  We  Say  Some  Water  Is  Hard 
and  Other  Water  Soft  ? 

What  we  call  hard  water  contains 
certain  salts  which  soft  water  does  not 
contain.  This  salts  in  hard  water  is  lime 
or  some  other  salts  which  the  water  has 
picked  up  out  of  the  ground  as  it 
passed  through  either  coming  up  or 
going  down.  On  the  other  hand,  we  can 
guess  after  having  been  told  this  much 
that  if  we  can  find  any  water  that  has 
not  passed  through  the  ground,  and, 
therefore,  not  hacl  a  chance  to  pick  up 
any  salts,  we  will  have  soft  water.  I'roni 
that  point  it  is  easy  to  guess,  then,  that 
rain  water  must  be  soft  water,  and  so 
it  is.  The  water  in  the  cisterns,  whicli 
is  rain  water,  is  soft  water,  and  (he 
kind  we  get  out  of  llie  wells  is  hard 
water. 

We  do  nol  like  to  wash  cither  our 
faces  or  our  clothes  in  hard  water, 
especially  when  it  is  necessary  to  use 
soap,  because  when  wo  use  soap  wilh 


222 


WHERE  THE  RAIN  GOES 


hard  water  the  soap  undergoes  chemical 
change  which  prevents  its  dissolving 
in  the  water.  Therefore,  you  cannot 
easily  do  a  good  job  of  washing  in  hard 
water.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  easy 
to  dissolve  the  soap  in  pure  rain  water 
or  soft  water  and  that  is  the  kind  we, 
therefore,  prefer  for  washing. 

How  Does  Water  Put  a  Fire  Out? 

This  is  at  first  a  puzzling  question, 
because  back  in  your  mind  is  the 
thought  that  since  hydrogen  and  oxy- 
gen are  necessary  to  make  a  fire  burn, 
it  seems  strange  that  water,  which  is 
composed  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  will 
also  put  it  out. 

A  burning  fire  throws  off  heat,  but  if 
too  much  of  the  heat  is  taken  from  the 
fire  suddenly  the  temperature  of  the 
fire  is  sent  down  so  far  below  the 
]-)oint  at  which  the  oxygen  of  the  air 
will  combine  with  it  that  the  fire  can- 
not burn.  We  speak  commonly  as 
though  water  thrown  on  a  fire  drowns 
it.  That  is  practically  what  happens. 
Scientifically  what  happens  is  that  the 
water  thrown  upon  the  fire  absorbs  so 
much  of  the  heat  to  itself  that  the  tem- 
]-)erature  of  the  fire  is  reduced  below 
the  point  where  oxygen  will  combine 
with  the  carbon  in  the  burning  material 
and  the  fire  goes  out. 

To  answer  the  unasked  part  of  your 
question  at  the  same  time  I  will  say 
that  hydrogen  and  oxygen  when  com- 
bined as  water  will  put  the  fire  out 
rather  than  make  it  burn,  more  because 
when  these  gases  take  the  form  of 
water  they  are  already  once  burned, 
and  you  know  that  anything,  substance 
or  gas,  which  has  already  been  burned 
cannot  be  burned  again.  It  required 
great  heat  to  make  oxygen  and  hydro- 
gen combine  and  form  water,  and  it 
also  takes  great  heat  to  separate  them 
again.  So  they  are  really  burned  once 
before  they  become  water. 

Where  Does  the  Rain  Go? 

Eventually  almost  all  of  the  rain  that 
falls  runs  into  the  rivers  and  lakes 
and  later  finds  its  w-ay  into  the  ocean, 


where  it  is  again  taken  up  into  the  air 
by  the  sun's  rays.  But  many  other 
things  happen  to  parts  of  the  rain 
which  do  not  find  their  way  into  the 
ocean.  In  the  paved  street,  of  course, 
where  the  water  cannot  sink  in,  it  flows 
into  the  gutter  and  thence  into  the 
sewer  and  on  down  to  the  river  or 
wherever  it  is  that  the  sewers  are 
emptied.  You  sec,  it  depends  very 
much  on  what  the  earth's  surface  is 
covered  with  at  the  place  -where  the  rain 
falls.  When  it  strikes  wdicre  there  is 
vegetation  a  great  deal  of  it  stays  in 
the  soil  at  a  depth  of  comparatively  few 
feet.  If  it  is  soil  where  trees  and  other 
plants  grow  a  great  deal  of  it  is  sucked 
up  from  the  ground  by  this  vegetation 
and  given  back  into  the  air  through 
the  leaves  and  flowers.  Sorne  of  the 
rain  keeps  sinking  on  down  into  the 
earth  until  it  strikes  some  substance 
like  rock  or  clay,  through  which  it 
cannot  sink,  and  then  it  follows  along 
this  until  it  finds  something  it  can  get 
through  and  collects  in  a  pool  and 
forms  an  underground  lake,  and  may 
cause  a  spring  to  flow.  Then  there  are 
also  worms  and  other  forms  of  animal 
life  in  the  earth  which  use  up  some  of 
the  water.  But  it  all  gets  back  into  the 
air  eventually  to  come  dow-n  some  time 
again  in  the  form  of  rain. 

Why  Does  Rain  Make  the  Air  Fresh? 

The  main  answ-er  to  this  question 
must  be  that  the  rain  in  coming  dow^n 
through  the  air  drives  the  dust  and 
other  impurities  w'hich  are  in  the  air 
before  it,  and  so  cleans  the  air  and 
m^akes  it  absolutely  clean.  In  addition 
to  this  it  is  now  stated  that  since  very 
often  rain  is  produced  by  electrical 
changes  in  the  air,  and  that  these  elec- 
trical changes  produce  a  gas  called 
ozone,  which  has  a  delightfully  fresh 
smell,  it  is  this  ozone  that  makes  us 
say  the  air  has  become  fresh. 

The  air  above  our  cities  is  almost 
constantly  filled  with  smoke,  containing 
various  poisonous  gases,  and  these  are 
driven  away  by  the  falling  rain. 

Then,  too,  there  is  always  a  greater 
or  less  accumulation  of   dirt,  garbage 


and  other  things  in  the  cities  which  give 
off  offensive  smells  constantly,  but 
which  we  do  not  notice  always  because 
we  become  used  to  them.  When  the 
rain  comes  down  it  washes  the  streets 
and  destroys  these  smells,  and  that 
makes  the  air  fresh  and  delightful  to 
take  into  the  lungs. 

In  the  country  the  air  is  more  nearly 
pure  all  the  time,  because  the  things 
which  spoil  the  air  in  the  city  are  not 
present. 


Is   a   Train    Harder   to    Stop    Than   to 
Start? 

The  answer  is  yes.  It  is  harder  to 
stop  a  train  than  to  start  it,  or  rather 
it  takes  more  power.  The  speed  of  a 
train  depends  upon  the  motive  power. 
When  a  train  is  stopped  and  you  wish 
to  start  it,  you  must  apply  enough  mo- 
tive power  to  start  it  going.  There 
must  be  enough  power  to  move  the 
Aveight  of  the  train  and  overcome  the 
friction  of  the  wheels  on  the  track.  It 
is.  of  course,  easier  to  move  a  thing 
that  weighs  less  than  a  heavier  one. 
If  you  throw  a  ball  ten  feet  into  the 
air,  it  will  perhaps  not  sting  your  hand 
Vvhen  you  catch  it  on  its  return ;  but, 
if  you  throw  it  one  hundred  feet  into 
the  air,  it  will  sting  your  hands  when 
you  catch  it.  Besides,  it  will  come 
down  faster  the  last  ten  feet  of  the 
way  than  the  ball  which  you  threw 
only  ten  feet  into  the  air.  This  is  be- 
cause when  movement  is  applied  to 
anything  you  add  power  to  it.  The 
ball  which  comes  down  from  one 
Imndred  feet  in  the  air  acquires  more 
power  in  falling  and  it  takes  more 
power  to  stop  it.  A  train  in  motion 
hr.s  not  only  the  power  of  the  weight 
of  the  train  Ijchind  it,  but  also  the  ad- 
ditional weight  which  the  movement 
of  the  train  has  given  it.  Therefore, 
it  takes  more  power  to  stop  it  than  to 
si  art  it.  To  stop  a  train  you  must  ap- 
jly  the  same  amount  of  power  as  is 
in  the  moving  train  because  the  j)owcr 
tc  stop  any  moving  thing  must  always 
l<e  at  least  as  great  as  the  power  which 
is  moving  it. 


What  Makes  the  Knots  In  Boards? 

We  find  knots  in  the  boards  which 
we  notice  in  a  lumber  pile  or  in  any 
Giber  place  where  boards  happen  to 
be,  because  the  smaller  limbs  which 
grow  away  from  the  larger  limbs  of 
trees  grow  from  the  inside  as  well  as 
the  outside  of  the  tree. 

When  you  see  a  knot  in  a  board  it 
means  that  before  the  tree  was  cut 
down  and  the  log  sawed  up  into  boards, 
a  limb  was  growing  out  from  the  in- 
side of  the  tree  at  the  spot  where  the 
knot  occurs. 

You  will  also  find  that  the  wood  in 
the  knot  is  harder  generally  than  the 
rest  of  the  board.  This  is  because 
more  strength  is  required  at  the  base 
of  a  limb  and  in  the  part  of  the  limb 
Vvhich  grew  inside  the  tree  than  in 
other  parts,  for  the  limb  must  be  strong 
enough  to  support  not  only  the  limb 
itf elf,  but  also  the  smaller  limbs  which 
grow  out  of  it. 


How  Many  Stars  Are  There? 

Man  may  never  know  how  many 
stars  there  are.  The  best  we  can  do 
IS  to  figure  on  the  number  that  can  be 
seen  with  the  largest  telescopes  which 
have  been  invented,  for,  of  course,  you 
know  there  must  be  many  millions  of 
tiiem  which  to  us  are  invisible.  We 
have  counted  the  stars  so  far  as  we 
can  see  them ;  or,  rather,  so  far  as  we 
can  photograph  them.  Astronomers 
have  found  that  a  photographic  plate 
exposed  to  the  stars  will  show  more 
of  them  than  can  be  seen  by  the  naked 
eye.  This  is  because  the  materials  on 
p  photograi)hic  plate  are  more  sensi- 
tive to  the  light  of  the  stars  than  the 
human  eye.  By  this  method  man  has 
been  able  in  a  way  to  count  the  stars 
he  can  see.  It  adds  up  to  more  than 
a  hundred  million  of  them.  Astron- 
omers found  this  out  by  taking  piio- 
tographs  of  the  heavens  at  night,  de- 
voting one  ])icture  to  each  section,  un- 
til the  entire  heavens  had  been  cov- 
ered, and  then  counting  them. 


224 


WHERE  PAINT   COMES   FROM 


MAKING   LEAD    BUCKLES — THE   FIRST    STEP   IN    PAINT    MAKING. 

The  Story  in  a  Can  of  Paint 


Paint  such  as  is  most  frequently 
used  is  the  material  used  for  painting 
buildings,  such  as  houses,  barns,  stores, 
and  many  others  which  we  need  not 
mention  here.  This  paint  is  used  on 
tliese  buildings  mostly  for  two  very  im- 
portant reasons — one  being  to  beautify 
the  buildings,  the  other  being  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  ravages  of  the 
weather,  much  in  the  same  way  that 
your  clothes  protect  you  from  the 
weather. 

Paint  such  as  we  mention  here  may 
be  regarded  as  the  most  simple  and  ■; 
useful  form.  You  have  no  doubt  fre- 
quently seen  the  painter-man  spreading 
paint  on  some  building,  or  perchance, 
you  have  seen  your  father  doing  it,  and 
have  noticed  that  paint  is  a  fluid  sub- 
stance looking  something  like  cream, 
which  is  applied  to  the  surface  to  be 
painted  with  a  suitable  brush  and  is 
brushed  out  smoothly.  After  the  first 
coat  is  dry,  other  coats  are  put  on  in 
the  same  way  until  enough  paint  has 
been  put  on  to  thoroughly  hide  the  un- 
evenness  of  the  lumber  and  making  it 
of  a  uniform  color. 


This  paint  is  made  by  simply  mixing 
together  dry  powder,  w'hich  is  usually 
called  pigment,  with  a  thin,  yellowish 
liquid  which  is  called  linseed  oil.  In  the 
earlier  days,  the  painter-man  mixed  this 
paint  himself  whenever  he  desired  to 
use  it.  In  these  more  modern  times,  he 
usually  buys  this  paint  already  pre- 
pared. 

Perhaps  a  little  history  of  the  prepa- 
ration of  the  package  of  a  can  of  paint 
which  he  buys  may  be  interesting  to 
you. 

Let  us  imagine  that  the  can  of  paint 
is  white.  In  this  case,  the  pigment  which 
is  used  is  a  white  powder  and  is  made 
of  either  metallic  lead  or  metallic  zinc. 
The  preparation  of  this  fine  white 
powder  is  very  interesting  and  requires 
considerable  time  to  perfect. 

Let  us  consider  the  pigment  known 
as  white  lead  first.  This  is  produced  by 
causing  metallic  lead,  which  is  of  a  blu- 
ish-gray color  and  very  heavy,  to  change 
from  its  original  form  by  a  process 
which  is  known  as  "corrosion."  This 
corrosion  is  brought  about  by  first  tak- 
ing the  metallic  lead,  which  at  this  stage 

(Continued    on    page    227) 


HOW  WHITE   LEAD   IS  MADE 


225 


FILLING  THE   STACK   WITH   LEAD   BUCKLES. 


LEAD   BEING   TAKEN   OUT   OF  THE    STACKS. 


The  next  step  is  to  take  an  earthenware  vessel,  which  resembles  an  ordinary  stone 
crock,  and  first  pour  into  it  a  small  quantity  of  acetic  acid,  which  is  about  the  same  as  table 
vinegar.     Then  the  crock  or  pot  is  filled  up  with  the  lead  buckles. 

Where  this  white  lead  is  made  in  a  large  way  many  thousands  of  these  pots  are  placed 
in  a  building,  the  sides  of  which  are  walled  up  tight,  the  spaces  between  the  crocks  being 
filled  in  with  tan  bark.  After  the  floor  has  been  covered  with  a  layer  of  these  crocks,  the 
layer  is  covered  with  boards,  in  order  to  provide  a  foundation  for  setting  in  the  next  layer 
of  crocks  and  tan  bark.  The  layer  of  boards  also  serves  as  a  floor  to  keep  the  tan  bark 
from  falling  into  the  open  crocks  on  the  tier  below.  This  procedure  is  followed  with 
tier  after  tier  until  the  building  is  completely  filled. 

Corrosion  of  the  metallic  lead  in  the  pots  now  begins,  because  the  tan  bark  generates 
some  heat,  becoming  finally  quite  warm.  This  heat  causes  the  acetic  acid  or  vinegar  to 
throw  off  vapor  or  steam,  which  attacks  the  metallic  lead,  causing  it  to  decompose  or 
corrode.  This  process  goes  on  for  many  weeks  (sometimes  as  much  as  fifteen  or  sixteen 
weeks),  until  those  buckles  of  metallic  lead  have  become  a  mass  of  white  powder  and 
nearly  all  trace  of  the  original  metallic  lead  has  disappeared. 


A    LEAD    BUCKLE    AFTER    CORROSION. 


A     I.FAD     niTCKLE     nFFORE     CORROSTON. 


226 


HOW  OXIDE  OF  ZINC    IS   OBTAINED 


WASHING  THE  LEAD.      SCREENS  COVERED  WITH   CLOTH   REMOVE  ALL  FOREIGN    MATTER. 

After  these  many  weeks  have  passed,  the  pots  containing  tlic  white  powder  of  carhonate 
of  lead,  as  it  is  called,  is  taken  out  of  the  building  where  corrosion  took  place,  and  the 
white  deposit  is  put  through  an  elaborate  system  of  refining,  which  is  called  "washing," 
and,  in  fact,  is  reaily  washed  in  water,  and  is  then  dried  in  very  large  copper  pans. 
After  being  dried  it  is  in  the  form  of  large  white  cakes,  resembling  pieces  of  chalk.  These 
cakes  are  then  passed  through  a  mill,  which  grinds  them  to  very  fine  powder,  which  is 
packed  in  barrels  rep.dy  to  be  shipped  and  used  by  the  paint-maker. 


FURNACE    WHERE   THE    SULPHUR    IS    ROASTED    OUT   OF   THE   ORE. 


Now  that  we  have  followed  through  the  process  of  making  the  white-lead  powder, 
or  pigment,  let  us  take  a_  little  time  to  study  the  preparation  of  the  other  white  powder, 
known  to  the  paint  trade  as  "oxide  of  zinc."  This  is  prepared  in  a  manner  quite  different 
from  that  of  the  white  lead. 

First  the  ore  which  is  mined  from  the  earth  containing  the  metallic  zinc  is  carefully 
selected  by  expert  workmen  and  placed  in  a  special  kind  of  furnace,  being  mixed  with 
hard  coal,   such   as  we  use  in  our  heating  stoves. 


WHERE  LINSEED   OIL  COMES   FROM 


227 


A    ZINX    SMELTER. — THE    MEN    KEEP    THEIR    MOUTHS    COVERED    SO    AS    NOT    TO    INHALE    THE  VAPOR, 

WHICH    IS    POISONOUS. 

The  burning  of  the  coal  causes  an  intensely  high  temperature,  sometimes  being  several 
tliousand  degrees.  This  causes  the  zinc  ore  to  be  consumed  as  it  were  or  to  pass  into  a  form 
of  vapor.  This  vapor  is  carried  through  huge  pipes  which  are  several  feet  in  diameter 
and  extend  for  a  long  distance.  While  these  vapors  are  passing  through  these  pipes  it 
becomes  cooled.  After  becoming  cooled  it  takes  on  the  form  of  very  fine  white  powder, 
coming  from  the  pipes  in  much  the  same  way  that  snow  falls  from  the  sky  in  the  winter. 
This  is  collected  anrj  placed  in  barrels,  after  which  it  is  ready  for  the  paint-maker  without 
further   preparation. 


exists  in  larj^e  pieces  known  as  "pigs." 
These  pigs  of  lead  are  melted  in  a  fur- 
nace and  then  molded  into  small,  thin 
shaj)es  which  are  huckles. 

Since  we  have  followed  the  i)rcpara- 
tion  of  the  two  important  white  ])ig- 
ments  iiscfj  in  m.nking  our  can  of  paint, 
it  is  now  imj)ortant  that  we  devote  a 
little  thought  to  the  liriuid  which  is  to 
l)e  used.  This  is  called  "Linseed  Oil." 
Linseed  oil  is  of  a  golden  yellow  color, 
resembling  the  aj)pearance  of  thin  syrup 
which  we  sometimes  have  on  the  tahle. 
'I  liis  oil   is  taken    from  the  seeij   of  ihc 


flax  plant.  It  might  better  be  called 
"Flaxseed  Oil,"  yet  it  is  not  commonly 
known  by  that  name,  but  is  nearly  al- 
ways referred  to  as  "Linseed  Oil." 
riax  is  grown  in  many  jx'irts  of  the 
world,  the  most  important  places  be- 
ing the  United  Stales  of  yXmerica,  Do- 
minion of  Canada,  Ireland,  India  and 
the  Argentine  Republic.  ]n  the  United 
States,  the  seed  is  sown  early  in  spring, 
much  the  .same  as  is  done  with  other 
crops,  and  ripens  and  is  harvested  early 
in  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  harvest- 
ing and  si'paralion  of  llie  se^-d  from  the 


228 


HOW  PAINTS  ARE   MIXED 


]:)lant  or  straw  is  done  very  much  in  the 
same  way  that  other  crops,  such  as 
wheat  and  oats,  are  harvested.  The  seed 
is  then  taken  to  market  and  is  ready  for 
the  extraction  of  the  oil,  which  is  done 
by  men  who  are  known  as  "oil 
crushers." 


tliis  process  is  put  into  large  tanks 
where  it  is  clarified  and  is  then  ready 
for  the  paint-maker.  This  oil  is  often 
referred  to  as  "Vegetable  Oil"  and  it 
has  one  very  peculiar  and  very  impor- 
tant characteristic  which  makes  it  use- 
ful and  necessary  for  use  in  paint.    This 


PKLSSI.VG  OIL   OUT   OF   FLAXSEED. 

The  oil  is  extracted  from  the  seed  by 
a  very  simple  process.  Usually  the 
seeds  are  heated  by  steaming  them, after 
which  they  pass  through  a  mill,  being 
ground  to  a  coarse  mass,  which  is  then 
placed  in  very  powerful  machines 
called  "Hydraulic  Oil  Presses,"  which 
squeeze  the  oil  from  the  seed,  leaving 
the  remainder  in  the  form  of  large 
cakes  which  are  then  ground  to  a  mealy- 
like  powder  which  is  used  as  food  for 
cattle  and  is  very  much  prized. 

The  oil  which  has  been  extracted  by 


REMOVING    OIL    CAKE    FROM    PRESS. 

property  is  that  of  drying  or  becoming 
solid,  losing  all  tendency  to  stickiness 
after  it  has  been  spread  out  thinly  and 
exposed  to  the  air  for  a  short  time. 

Now  that  we  have  given  attention  to 
the  preparation  of  the  most  important 
things  used  in  the  making  of  our  can  of 
jiaint,  let  us  look  a  little  to  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  put  together,  and  the 
result. 

The  oil  is  necessary  in  making  paint 
in  order  to  make  it  fluid,  so  that  the 
paint  may  be  brushed  on  to  the  wood 


UiitKE    LEAU    IS    GROUND    IN    OIL. 


WHERE   PAINTS    ARE   MIXED. 


WHAT   MAKES  THE   DIFFERENT   COLORS  OF   PAINT 


229 


or  other  surface,  and  also  so  that  the 
pigment  or  powdered  material  which 
has  been  put  into  the  paint  will  have 
something  to  hold  it  to  the  surface.  The 
oil  or  other  liquid  which  may  be  used 
is  usually  called  "Binder"  by  the  paint 
man  because  it  binds  the  pigment  in  the 
paint  and  to  the  surface  on  which  it 
has  been  spread  or  applied. 

In  a  large  paint  factory,  the  two  white 
pigments,  lead  and  zinc,  are  mixed  with 
linseed  oil  in  large  machines  known  as 
"Mixers"  into  a  smooth  paste  which  is 
then  run  through  other  machines  called 
Mills,"  where  the  paste  is  ground  very 
fine  into  large  tubes  where  the  paint  is 
finished  by  mixing  in  enough  more  oil 
to  make  it  of  the  proper  thickness  or 
consistency  for  brushing.  In  this  state 
it  can  be  used,  but  would  not  be 
entirely  satisfactory  because  it  would 
dry  very  slowly.  For  that  reason,  the 
paint-maker  adds  in  a  small  amount  of 
what  is  known  as  "Drier,"  which  causes 
the  paint  to  dry  much  more  rapidly 
after  it  is  spread  out  on  any  surface. 

The  paint-maker  may  also  add  in  a 
small  amount  of  thin  liquid  called  "Tur- 
pentine," which  also  adds  in  the  drying 
and  the  working  of  the  paint.  Turpen- 
tine is  a  very  thin  liquid  which  looks 
like  water,  and  it  is  derived  from  the 
sap  of  one  species  of  pine  which  grows 
abundantly  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  United  States.  The  sap  is  taken 
from  the  tree  by  tapping  the  tree  or 
making  an  incision  called  a  box,  at  cer- 
tain seasons.  After  the  sap  is  collected 
it  is  put  through  a  heating  process 
called  "distilling,"  which  separates  the 
water-white  liquid,  called  turpentine, 
leaving  a  large  mass  of  heavy  material 
which  is  commonly  known  as  "Rosin." 
This  turpentine  is  very  useful  to  the 
paint-maker  and  the  painter.  It  is  also 
userl  for  many  other  purposes. 

The  paint  which  we  have  described 
i'<  the  most  sim])le  kind  and  is  white. 
There  are  many  other  kinds  of  paint 
uscfl,  being  of  many  different  colors. 
All  of  these  different  kinds  require  dif- 
ferent treatment  and  preparation  and 
would  rerjuire  many  large  books  to  ex- 
plain even  in  a  brief  way. 

Till    white  paint  which  we  have  de- 


scribed may  be  colored  or  tinted  to 
many  different  hues  by  adding  suit- 
able color  pigments.  These  color  pig- 
ments are  of  many  kinds  and  are  de- 
rived from  many  different  sources.  The 
vegetable  kingdom  is  represented  as 
well  as  the  mineral  and  animal  king- 
doms. The  linseed  oil  which  we  have 
already  mentioned,  is  derived  from  the 
vegetable  kingdom.  This  also  applies 
to  some  few  of  the  pigments.  A  very 
important  instance  which  we  might 
mention  is  a  beautiful  rich  brown  called 
"Vandyke  Brown."  This  is  made  from 
decayed  vegetation  which  is  found  in 
swampy  districts.  There  are  many 
pigments  derived  from  the  mineral 
kingdom.  White  lead  and  zinc  oxide 
have  already  been  described  as  useful. 
Among  colored  pigments  coming  from 
this  kingdom,  we  might  mention  yellow 
ochre,  sienna,  umber,  cobalt  blue,  and 
many  others. 

The  animal  kingdom  supplies  quite  a 
number,  one  of  which  is  a  beautiful  red 
known  as  "Carmine."  This  is  taken 
from  a  small  insect  or  fly  which  is  found 
in  certain  tropical  climates.  The  pro- 
duction of  carmine  is  very  expensive 
and  the  product  is  highly  prized. 

Another  important  development  of 
the  animal  world  is  what  is  called  "Bone 
Black."  This  is  made  by  taking  ordi- 
nary animal  bones,  putting  them  into 
a  suitable  furnace  and  burning  them, 
which  really  produces  bone  charcoal, 
v/hich  is  refined  by  powdering  and 
washing,  and  finally  produces  a  beauti- 
ful black,  such  as  used  for  painting  fine 
coaches  and  carriages. 

Why  Does  a  Dog  Turn  Round  and  Round 
Before  He  Lies  Down? 

Away  back  in  the  liistory  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom,  when  the  ancestors  of  our 
domestic  dog  were  wild,  they  slept  in 
the  woods  or  open.  When  they  were 
ready  to  lie  down,  they  first  had  to 
trample  the  grass  about  them  flat  to 
make  a  place  to  lie  down.  This  became 
a  habit  and  one  of  the  instincts  of  llu" 
animal  wliich  has  l)een  transmitted  tn 
the  dogs  of  today  who  keep  it  uj).  It 
is  an  inherited  liabit  (juite  useless  to 
the  dogs  of  to-day. 


230    WHY  A   NAIL  GETS   HOT   WHEN    HIT  WITH   A   HAMMER 


How  Is  Light  Produced? 

You  already  learned  that  a  substance 
called  ether  is  found  in  all  substances, 
fining  the  spaces  between  the  molecules. 
When  the  molecules  arc  made  to  vi- 
brate, the  ether  naturally  also  vibrates. 
As  soon  as  the  vibrations  become  suf- 
ficiently rapid,  they  produce  the  sen- 
sation of  light.  These  vibrations  also 
produce  heat.  In  heated  bodies  the 
molecules  are  always  found  to  be  in 
vibration,  and  a  body  may  become  so 
hot  that  it  gives  oflf  light.  We  notice 
this  when  iron  becomes  red  hot.  Heat 
and  light  are  found  together  in  bodies 
in  many  instances.  In  fact,  most  of  the 
light  we  have  comes  from  bodies  wdiich 
are  hot.  The  sun  is  so  hot,  that  it  is 
surrounded  by  the  gases  of  many  sub- 
stances that  exist  as  solids  on  earth. 

We  have  some  bodies  which  produce 
light  which  is  not  accompanied  by  much 
heat.  The  glow-worm,  or  firefly,  seems 
to  make  light  with  little  or  not  heat ; 
but  we  do  not  yet  know  how  this  is 
done.  Almost  all  sources  of  artificial 
light  require  that  heat  be  produced  be- 
fore light  obtained.  Only  such  vibra- 
tions of  the  ether  which  are  sufficiently 
rapid  produce  enough  light  to  enable 
us  to  see.  For  this  reason,  a  piece  of 
red  hot  iron,  w^hich  is  made  luminous 
by  heat  and  whose  particles  vibrate  less 
rapidly  produce  little  light. 

What  Makes  Rays  of  Light? 

Whenever  the  ether  is  made  to  vi- 
brate rapidly  enough  at  any  point,  the 
vibrations  go  in  straight  lines  from  the 
source  of  light  in  all  directions.  A  sin- 
gle line  of  vibrating  particles  in  the 
ether,  is  known  as  a  ray.  A  number 
of  rays,  that  issue  from  one  point,  are 
said  to  form  a  pencil.  A  pencil  of 
light  may  be  produced  by  holding  near 
a  candle  a  screen,  with  a  hole  in  it. 
Sometimes  rays  of  light  are  brought 
together  in  a  point,  as  may  be  done  by 
means  of  a  burning  glass,  and  one  of 
these  bundles  of  rays  is  known  as  a 
convergent  pencil. 

A  bundle  of  rays  that  lie  parallel  to 
each  other  forms  a  beam.     The  rays 


that  come  to  us  from  the  sun  are  prac- 
tically parallel  and  are  called  sunbeams. 

Why   Does   a    Nail    Get    Hot    When    I 
Hammer  It? 

When  wc  are  in  the  sunshine,  or 
standing  before  a  fire,  we  feel  hot ;  when 
we  take  snow  or  ice  in  our  hands,  they 
feel  cold.  The  thing  which  produces 
these  sensations  is  called  heat.  W^hen 
we  feel  heat,  it  is  because  heat  is  ab- 
sorbed by  our  bodies,  and  when  we  feel 
cold,  it  is  being  thrown  off  by  them. 

To  answer  this  question,  we  must  see 
how  heat  may  be  produced.  If  we 
draw  a  cord  rapidly  through  our 
fingers,  they  feel  hot,  and  if  we  rub 
a  coin  briskly  with  a  cloth  or  our  hands, 
it  becomes  warm ;  if  we  take  a  nail 
and  hammer  it  on  a  hard  substance, 
it  becomes  too  warm  for  us  to  hold. 
In  these  instances  heat  is  produced  by 
retarding  or  checking  the  motion  of  a 
body.  W^hen  we  draw  a  cord  through 
our  fingers,  it  moves  less  easily ;  we 
retard  its  motion  by  gripping  it  and  this 
is  what  makes  the  heat  we  feel.  When 
we  strike  the  nail  with  a  hammer,  the 
motion  of  the  hammer  is  checked  by 
the  nail,  and  the  faster  we  pound  with 
the  hammer,  the  hotter  the  nail  becomes. 
From  these  experiments  we  learn  that 
whenever  the  motion  of  a  substance  is 
checked,  or  retarded,  heat  is  generated, 
and  the  substance  made  hot. 

In  explaining  this  method  of  produc- 
ing heat,  it  was  at  one  time  thought  that 
all  bodies  contained  a  substance  which 
produced  the  heat  and  that,  when 
rubbed  or  hammered, this  substance  was 
thrown  off.  About  the  end  of  the  iSth 
century,  however,  it  was  shown  by  Ben- 
jamin Thompson  (Count  Rumford), 
that  substances  when  rubbed  give  off 
heat.  From  this  we  learned  that  heat 
is  not  a  substance,  because  the  quantity 
of  any  substance,  present  in  a  body, 
cannot  be  -limitless.  If  it  were  a  sub- 
stance which  produced  the  heat,  the 
supply  would  sooner  or  later  be  ex- 
hausted, and  rubbing  could  no  longer 
produce  heat. 

Heat  produced  by  rubbing,  or  by 
striking  substances  together,  is  caused 


WHY  A  GLOW=WORM   GLOWS 


231 


as  follows :  If  two  substances  are 
struck  upon  each  other,  the  whole  of 
those  substances  are  checked,  but  the 
molecules  of  the  substances  are  made 
to  vibrate  very  rapidly,  and  these  vi- 
brations produce  the  heat  we  feel. 

How  Do  We  Obtain  Heat? 

We  get  most  of  our  heat  from  the 
sun.  If  the  heat  from  the  sun  did  not 
reach  us,  no  living  thing  would  exist 
on  the  earth.  No  plants  or  animals 
could  live ;  the  oceans  and  rivers  would 
be  solid  ice. 

Another  important  source  of  heat,  is 
chemical  action.  Chemical  action  is 
what  causes  fire.  Even  when  it  does 
not  cause  fire,  it  produces  a  great  deal 
of  heat.  When  we  breathe  to  keep  our 
bodies  warm,  it  is  a  chemical  action 
that  occurs.  Fire  is  the  most  impor- 
tant form  of  chemical  action,  as  a 
source  of  heat. 

Why  Does  a  Glow-Worm  Glow? 

A  glow-worm  is  a  kind  of  beetle 
which  may  be  found  in  the  yards  and 
hedges  in  the  summer  time.  The  name 
applies  only  to  the  female  of  the  species 
which  is  wingless  and  whose  body  re- 
sembles that  of  a  caterpillar  somewhat 
and  emits  a  shining  green  light  from 
the  end  of  the  abdomen.  The  male  of 
this  species  has  wings  but  does  not 
show  any  light  as  does  the  female  and 
resembles  an  ordinary  beetle.  The  male 
flies  about  in  the  evenings  looking  for 
the  female  and  she  makes  her  light  glow 
in  order  that  the  male  may  find  her. 
Glow-worms  are  found  mostly  in  Eng- 
land. There  are,  however,  some  mem- 
bers of  the  same  species  of  beetle  com- 
mon to  the  United  States.  We  speak  of 
them  as  fireflies  or  lightning  bugs.  The 
female  of  these  also  is  the  only  one 
carrying  a  Uglit,  although  milikc  the 
glow-worm  she  has  wings  and  can  fly. 

Why  Do  They  Call  It  Pin  Money? 

This  expression  originally  rnmc  from 
the  allowance  which  a  husband  gave 
his  wife  to  purchase  pins.    At  one  time 


pins  were  dreadfully  expensive  so  that 
only  wealthy  people  could  aft'ord  them 
and  they  were  saved  so  carefully  that 
in  those  days  you  could  not  have  looked 
along  the  pavement  and  found  a  pin 
which  3'ou  happened  to  be  in  need  of  as 
you  can  and  often  do  today. 

By  a  curious  law  the  manufacturers 
of  pins  were  only  allowed  to  sell  them 
on  January  1st  and  2nd  each  year  and 
so  when  those  days  came  around  the 
women  whose  husbands  could  afiford  it, 
secured  pin  money  from  them  and  went 
out  and  got  their  pins. 

Pins  have  become  so  very  cheap  in 
these  days  that  we  are  rather  careless 
with  them,  but  the  expression  has  con- 
tinued to  live  although  today  when 
used,  it  means  any  allowance  of  money 
which  a  husband  gives  a  wife  for  her 
personal  expenses. 

Pins  were  known  and  used  as  long 
ago  as  1347  A.  D.  They  were  introduced 
into  England  in  1540.  In  1824  an 
American  named  Might  invented  a 
machine  for  making  pins  which  enabled 
them  to  be  manufactured  cheaply. 
About  1,500  tons  of  iron  and  brass  are 
made  into  pins  every  year  in  the  United 
States. 

Why  Do  People  Shake  Hands  With  the 
Right  Hand? 

In  the  days  of  very  long  ago  when 
all  men  were  prepared  to  fight  at  any 
and  all  times  because  one  could  not 
know  whether  another  approaching  was 
a  friend  or  an  enemy,  all  men  went 
armed.  This  was  before  the  day  of 
guns  w^hen  the  sword  was  the  great 
weapon  of  defense. 

Upon  occasion  when  one  man  ap- 
proached another,  each  had  to  decide 
whether  the  other  came  on  a  peaceful 
nu'ssion  or  not. 

People  in  those  days  were  mostly 
right  handed  as  they  are  now  and  wlicn 
fighting  carried  their  swords  in  their 
right  hands. 

If,  then,  a  man  wished  to  speak  with 
a  stranger  or,  as  might  easily  be  neces- 
sary, to  one  who  may  even  be  known 
to  be  unfriendly,  he  put  out  his  right 
hand   upon  approaching  to  show   that 


232 


WHY  FISHES   CANNOT   LIVE    IN  THE  AIR 


he  had  no  deadly  or  dangerous  weapon 
in  it.  The  other  man  could  see  this 
and  knew  from  the  extended  open  hand 
that  no  harm  was  intended  and  that 
the  approach  was  peaceful.  If,  then, 
he  was  willing  to  meet  the  other,  he  also 
extended  his  right  arm  with  the  hand 
open  to  show  him  who  was  approaching 
that  his  fighting  hand  was  empty  also ; 
and  when  they  met  each  would  grasp 
the  hand  of  the  other  so  that  neither  one 
could  change  his  mind  and  assume  a 
fighting  attitude  without  the  other  hav- 
ing an  equal  warning. 

How  Did  the  Custom  of  Clinking  Glasses 

When  Drinking  Originate? 

In  the  days  of  the  Roman  gladiators, 
before  a  duel  with  swords,  it  became  the 
custom  of  each  of  the  participants  to 
drink  a  glass  of  wine  before  fighting. 
Just  before  the  fighting  commenced  two 
glasses  of  wine  were  brought  and  the 
gladiators  drank.  These  two  glasses  of 
wune  were  provided  by  the  friends  of 
either  one  or  the  other  of  the  gladiators. 
To  guard  against  treachery,  through 
some  over  zealous  friend  of  the  fighters 
furnishing  poisoned  wine  was  neces- 
sary. So  before  drinking  and  to  show 
there  was  no  treachery,  the  gladiators 
came  close  together  and  poured  wine 
from  one  glass  into  the  other  back  and 
forth  until  the  wine  in  the  glasses  was 
thoroughly  mixed.  If  the  wine  in  one 
glass  then  had  been  poisoned,  the 
poisoned  wine  would  thus  be  in  both 
glasses,  and  if  there  had  been  any 
treachery,  both  gladiators  would  be 
poisoned"  if  they  drank.  The  wine  was 
poured  from  one  glass  to  the  other  to 
show  that  there  was  no  treachery. 

This  custom  continued  in  use  for  a 
long  time  until  the  idea  of  drinking  be- 
fore a  fight  was  abandoned.  The  cus- 
tom, however,  of  showing  friendliness 
in  this  way  while  drinking  continued 
for  a  long  time.  Later  it  became  a  mere 
custom,  "however,  to  show  a  friendly 
spirit  toward  the  one  who  was  drinking 
with  you,  and  when  the  danger  of 
poisoned  wine  was  past,  the  actual  act 
of  pouring  the  wine  from  one  glass  to 
another  was  changed  to  merely  touch- 


ing the  glasses  together.  Thus  today 
we  have  the  friendly  custom  of  touch- 
ing glasses  together  long  after  the 
necessity  of  guarding  against  treachery 
while  drinking  has  passed. 

Why  Cannot  Fishes  Live  In  the  Air  ? 

It  is  a  curious  thing  isn't  it  that  if  a 
boy  falls  into  the  water,  he  will  drown 
if  he  cannot  swim  or  someone  does  not 
help  him  out,  and  that  if  a  fish  falls 
out  of  the  water  onto  the  land,  he  will 
drown  also,  even  though  he  knows  how 
to  swim,  better  than  anything  else  he 
does.  A  boy  cannot  secure  the  air 
which  he  needs  to  live  on  if  he  is  under 
the  water,  because  there  is  not  enough 
air  for  him  there  and  a  fish  cannot  se- 
cure enough  air  for  him  to  live  on  when 
he  is  on  land  where  the  air  is  plentiful, 
because,  the  boy  takes  his  air  from  the 
air  itself  and  the  fish  gets  his  air  out 
of  the  water. 

To  live  by  breathing  the  air  we  find 
on  or  above  the  land,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  lungs  and  fishes  do  not  have  lungs. 
In  the  case  of  the  boy  under  the  water 
he  would  have  to  have  gills  to  enable 
him  to  make  use  of  the  air  which  is  in 
the  water  to  live  by  and  he  has  no  gills. 

A  fish  can  only  live  a  little  while  out 
of  the  water,  but  even  so  he  can  live 
longer  out  of  the  water  than  a  boy  can 
under  the  water. 

Lest  you  read  sometime  of  the  flying 
fish  and  think  they  must  be  able  to  live 
out  of  the  water,  I  will  tell  you  before 
you  ask  the  question  that  the  flying 
fish  never  stays  out  of  the  water  for 
more  than  a  few  seconds  at  a  time.  His 
flying  leaps  amount  to  little  more  than 
long  leaps  from  wave  to  wave.  He 
swims  along  very  fast  in  the  water, 
coming  right  up  to  the  surface  and  out 
into  the  air  and  the  speed  at  which  he 
has  been  swimming  regulates  the  dis- 
tance he  will  go  when  he  shoots  into 
the  air,  as  he  has  no  means  of  propel- 
ling himself  through  the  air,  but  only 
into  it.  He  has,  however,  wing-like 
fins,  which  he  spreads  out  when  in  the 
ari  and  which  enables  him  to  glide 
through  the  air  and  thus  remain  in  the 
air  longer. 


WHY   BIRDS   EGGS  HAVE   DIFFERENT  COLORS 


233 


What  Makes  a  Fish  Move  in  Swimming  ? 

This  is  a  puzzling  question,  I  am  sure. 
Of  course,  you  at  once  cause  several 
other  questions  as  soon  as  you  ask  this 
one  such  as  the  following:  Does  the 
water  in  front  of  him  move  out  of  the 
way  and  then  close  in  behind  him  ?  If  so, 
where  does  it  go  in  the  meantime  ?  Does 
the  fish  move  the  water  forward  or  up 
or  down  or  what  does  he  do  ? 

The  answer  is,  of  course,  in  the 
movements  of  the  fish's  tail.  The  fish 
in  swimming  is  surrounded  with  water, 
top,  bottom  and  all  sides  of  him.  The 
pressure  of  the  water  on  the  fish  is  the 
same  at  all  points  so  that  any  motion 
made  by  him  would  have  a  tendency  to 
make  him  move.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  tail  in  moving  from  side  to  side 
creates  a  current  in  the  water  from  the 
head  to  the  tail,  or  rather  would  pro- 
duce an  actual  current  if  the  fish  re- 
mained perfectly  still.  Instead  of  mak- 
ing an  actual  current  of  water,  the 
body  of  the  fish  is  moved  forward. 

As  to  whether  the  water  ahead  of  him 
opens  up  first  and  then  the  water  behind 
him  is  a  more  difficult  question  to  an- 
swer. To  the  appearance  it  would  seem 
as  if  the  water  moved  at  both  ends  and 
sides  at  once,  but  according  to  scientific 
theory,  the  water  at  the  head  of  the  fish 
is  displaced  first. 

Why    Are    Birds'    Eggs    of    Different 
Colors  ? 

This  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature  to 
help  the  mother  birds  hide  her  eggs 
away  from  the  eyes  of  her  enemies.  In 
the  animal  kingdom  every  kind  of  life 
is  the  natural  prey  of  some  other  kind 
of  animal.  A  bird  will  have  enemies 
which  try  to  catch  her  as  food.  A  bird 
cannot  fight  back,  so  must  fly  away 
when  danger  threatens,  in  order  to  save 
her  life.  This  means  that  she  must 
leave  the  eggs  in  the  nest  for  the  time 
being.  At  certain  times  she  must  also 
leave  her  nest  and  search  for  food  for 
herself.  In  order  that  the  eggs  so  left 
alone  may  have  a  better  chance  of  not  be- 
ing discovered,  nature  has  arranged  mat- 
ters so  that  the  eggs  take  the  color  very 
much  of  the  snrrotmdings  in  which  they 


are  laid.  Eggs  of  some  birds  are  spotted 
or  look  like  pebbles,  because  the  mother 
bird  lays  them  in  the  sand.  Some  of 
them  are  green,  almost  the  color  of  the 
materials  from  which  the  bird  builds 
the  nest,  and  so  the  colors  have  a  real, 
and  to  the  birds,  a  valuable  purpose. 

Why  Does  a  Hen  Cackle  After  Laying 
an  Egg? 

The  hen  cackles  because  she  is  glad. 
She  is  glad  because  she  has  just  ac- 
complished something,  which  she  was 
put  on  earth  to  do.  If  you  study  the 
life  on  the  earth  carefully  with  this  in 
mind,  you  will  discover  that  all  kinds 
of  life  give  expression  in  some  form 
of  gladness,  when  they  have  performed 
the  things  they  are  on  earth  for.  It's 
the  hen's  way  of  expressing  herself  and 
letting  the  chicken  world  know.  The 
dog  wags  his  tail  when  he  is  pleased ; 
boys  and  girls  jump  up  and  down  when 
they  are  pleased,  whether  they  have 
been  doing  anything  commendable  or 
not.  No  doubt  also  the  actual  laying  of 
the  egg  causes  some  discomfort  to  the 
hen  and  the  corresponding  feeling  of 
gladness  would  come  naturally  after  the 
discomfort'  disappeared. 

Why   Will   Water   Run    Off   a   Duck's 
Back? 

The  reason  that  water  runs  oflf  a 
duck's  back,  is  that  the  feathers  of 
ducks  are  oily  and,  as  water  and  oil 
will  not  mix,  the  water  runs  ofif  instead 
of  soaking  in.  The  feathers  on  a  duck 
are  so  thick  on  the  body  of  the  duck, 
top  and  bottom,  that  even  if  it  were  not 
for  the  oil  which  is  on  the  feathers  the 
water  would  have  some  difficulty  in 
soaking  through  the  feathers.  But  the 
main  reason  why  the  feathers  on  a 
duck's  back  cause  water  striking  them 
to  run  ofif  is  that  the  duck  has  an  oil 
gland  which  is  constantly  producing 
grease  or  oil  and  which  the  duck  uses 
in  giving  his  feathers  a  thin  coating  of 
oil  to  make  them  slick  with  oil  and 
when  any  water  strikes  the  duck  it  runs 
off.  Other  birds  which  live  in  the  water 
a  great  deal  have  this  oil  gland  for  the 
same  reason. 


234 


THE  STORY   IN   A   STEEL  RAIL 


A   Blast  Furnace. 

Molten  iron  is  brought  from  the  blast  furnaces  to  the  open-hearth  furnaces,  and 
dumped  into  a  receptacle  called  a  mixer,  the  capacity  of  which  ranges  from  400  tons  to 
1000  tons,  depcnehni;    upon   the  numlicr  of   furnaces  to  be   served. 


Oiie-thousand-ton  Mixer. 
Pictures  in  this  story  by  courtesy  of  Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 


INSIDE  OF   OPEN   HEARTH  FURNACE 


235 


Charging   Side   of   an    Open-hearth    Furnace. 

An  open-hearth  furnace  consists  of  a  long,  shallow  hearth,  suitably  enclosed  in  nre- 
brick,  and  bound  together  with  steel  binding.  The  furnace  is  heated  by  burning  gas  and 
air.  which  have  previously  been  preheated,  so  that  a  temperature  is  obtained  in  the  furnace 
ranging  from  2900  to  3050  degrees  Fahrenheit. 


Pouring  Side  of  an  Open-Hearth  Furnace. 

f        ■' 

The  open-hearth  process  consists  of  the  purification  of  iron  by  oxidizing  out  the 
impurities  and  burnmg  out  the  carbon  of  the  iron  until  a  tough  and  ductile  steel  is 
I)roduccfl,  which  can  be  made  of  any  desired  composition  by  the  addition  of  the  necessary 
quantities  of  alloys  just  previous  to  tapping  and  pouring.  The  impurities  in  the  iron  arc 
oxidized  by  the  slag  lying  on  top  of  the  metal,  and  the  burning  out  of  the  carbon,  whuli 
is  a  very  slow  operation,  is  hastened  by  the  addition  of  iron  ore,  the  oxygen  of  wliich 
combines  with  the  carl)on  of  the  iron  and  passes  off  as  a  gas  going  up  the  stack. 

When  an  open-hearth  furnace  is  ready  for  a  charge,  a  vari;d)lc  amount  of  scrap, 
say  30  per  cent  of  th^'  total  weight  of  material  used  for  tlic  lieat,  is  charged  \xhc>  tlie 
furnace.  With  this  scrap  is  charged  suflicicnt  lime  or  limestone  to  make  tlic  slag,  as  well 
as  some  iron  ore  to  assist  in  reducing  the  carbon  of  the  iron.  In  aliout  two  or  throe 
hours  the  required  amount  of  molten  iron  is  brought  from  the  mixer  in  ladles,  and  poured 
into  tin-    fiirn;icc   on    top   of   tlic   scr.i]),   lime   ;ind    ore. 


236 


MOLTEN  STEEL  BEING  POURED  LIKE  WATER 


Molten  Steel  Being  Poured  Into  Ladle. 

When  the  scrap  has  all  been  melted,  a  test  is  taken  to  determine  the  amount  of 
carbon  remaining  in  the  bath.  Iron  ore  is  added  from  time  to  time  until  the  carbon  in 
the  bath  has  been  reduced  to  the  desired  point,  and  the  metal  is  sufficiently  hot  to  pour. 
At  this  point  "rccarburizers"  (consisting  of  Ferro-Manganese,  Ferro-Silicon,  and  pig- 
iron,  or  coal)  are  added  to  get  the  required  composition.  The  tap  hole  at  the  back  of 
the  furnace  is  opened,  and  the  steel  is  allowed  to  run  out  into  a  ladle,  the  slag  coming 
last  and  forming  a  blanket  over  the  steel  in  the  ladle. 


Crane  Carrying  Ingot  and  Soaking  Pit  Furnaces. 

The  ladle  is  picked  up  by  an  electric  crane  and  carried  over  cast-iron  moulds,  which 
are   set  on   cars,   the   steel   being  poured   into   the   moulds,    resulting  in   steel   ingots.     A 


GETTING  READY  TO  MAKE  A  RAIL 


237 


sufficient  amount  of  time  is  allowed  for  the  steel  to  become  chilled  or  set,  when  the 
cars  are  pushed  under  an  electric  stripper,  where  the  moulds  are  removed  from  the  ingots. 
After  the  ingots  leave  the  stripper  they  are  taken  to  the  scales  and  weighed,  and  after 
weighing  are  put  into  the  soaking  pits.  The  pits  get  their  name  from  the  part  they  play 
in  the  heating  of  the  steel  for  rolling.  When  the  steel  ingot  is  stripped  the  outside  of 
the  ingot  is  cool  enough  to  hold  the  inside,  which  is  still  in  a  liquid  state,  and  the  steel 
is  put  into  the  soaking  pits  to  allow  the  inside  to  settle  into  a  solid  mass,  after  which 
the  ingot  is  reheated  for  rolling.  The  length  of  time  in  the  soaking  pits  depends  upon 
the  size  of  the  ingot,  as  the  larger  the  ingot,  the  greater  length  of  time  is  required  to  set. 
When  the  steel  is  ready  for  foiling  it  is  taken  from  the  pits  by  overhead  electric 
cranes,  and  placed  into  a  dump  buggy  at  the  end  of  a  roller  line,  which  leads  to  the 
blooming  mill.  The  dump  buggy  derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that  when  the  ingot  is 
placed  into   same   in   an   upright  position,   the  buggy,    in  order  to   place   the   ingot   into   a 


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Blooming  Mill  and  Engine. 


horizontal  position  on  the  roller  line,  dumps  over,  in  the  same  way  as  if  one  were  to 
rock  too  far  forward  in  a  rocking-chair,  the  dump  buggy  operating  on  the  same  principle. 

The  ingot  travels  down  the  movable-roller  line  to  the  blooming-mill  rolls,  which  roll  it 
down  from  a  piece  19  inches  by  23  inches  to  what  is  known  as  an  8  inch  \n  8  inch  bloom, 
which  is  the  size  usually  used  in  the  manufacture  of  rails.  The  blooming  mill  derives  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  after  an  ingot  is  rolled  in  same  it  is  no  longer  called  an  ingot, 
but  a  bloom. 

After  leaving  the  blooming  mill  the  bloom  travels  along  another  roller  line  to  the 
shears,  where  it  is  cut  into  two  or  three  pieces,  the  number  of  pieces  depending  on  the 
size  of  the  rail  which  is  to  be  rolled.  The  blooms  are  then  lifted  over  the  roller  line 
at  the  shears  by  a  transfer  crane,  and  placed  on  a  traveling  roller  line  which  connects 
with  the  rear  of  the  reheating  furnace.  This  furnace  is  about  35  feet  long,  and  is  so 
constructed  that  when  the  bloom  is  pushed  in  at  the  rear  of  the  furnace,  another  bloom 
drops   from  the  front  or  discharge  end  of  the  furnace. 


238 


THE  INGOT  BECOMES  A  RAIL 


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The  Ingot  Becomes  a  Rail. 

The  bloom  dropping  out,  being  sufficiently  hot  to  roll  into  rails,  travels  along  another 
roller  line  to  the  roughing  or  first  set  of  rolls.  Here  the  bloom  is  given  five  passes  in 
the  rolls,  and  is  then  transferred  to  the  strand  or  second  set  of  rolls,  where  it  receives 
five  additional  passes;  after  this  operation  it  is  transferred  to  the  finishing  or  third  set 
of  rolls,  in  which  it  is  given  one  pass.  The  bloom  has  now  been  converted  into  a  rail,  and 
the  rail  travels  on  another  roller  line  to  the  hot  saw,  where  it  is  cut  into  33-foot  lengths, 
this  being  the  standard  length  in  this  country  for  all  rails.  The  rails  when  hot  are  cut 
by  the  hot  saw  to  lengths  of  about  3S  f^et  6y2  inches,  the  allowance  of  6J/2  inches  being 
made  for  shrinkage  in  cooling.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  steel  shrinks  to  this  extent, 
but  tnis  is  a  fact,  and  while  the  rails  are  cooling  on  the  hotbeds  they  have  the  appearance 
of  being  animated,  as  they  move  first  one  way  and  then  the  other.  After  the  rails  are 
on  the  hotbed  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  cool,  the}''  are  taken  from  the  hotbed  and 
placed  on  a  traveling  roller  line,  which  takes  them  to  an  endless  chain  conveyor.  The 
statement  that  rails  are  put  on  hotbeds  for  cooling  seems  paradoxical,  but  the  hotbeds 
are  so  called  because  the  rails  are  placed  on  them  while  hot,  and  are  left  there  until  they 
have  cooled.  ,  ..., 

The  endless-chtin  conveyor  places  the  rails  mi  another  bed,  from  which  they  are 
picked  up  by  an  electric  crane  and  distributed  to  the  straightening  presses,  where  all  burrs 
(which  have  been  caused  by  the  hot-sawing  operation)  are  removed  before  the  rails  are 
straightened.  After  straightening  they  are  transferred  to  drill  presses,  where  they  have 
holes  drilled  into  them  for  the  accommodation  of  the  splice  bar,  after  which  they  are 
placed  on  the  loading  docks. 


After  being  carefully  examined  by  the  railfa'!  c  iiiiiiaii} '>  inspectors  they  are  picked 
up  from  the  loading  docks  by  electric  magnets  attached  to  a  crane,  and  are  placed  in  cars 
ready  for  shipment. 


WHY   JURIES   HAVEiTWELVE  MEN 


239 


Who  Made  the  First  Felt  Hat? 

The  felt  hat  is  as  old  as  Homer.  The 
Greeks  made  them  in  skull-caps,  coni- 
cal, truncated,  narrow-  or  broad- 
brimmed.  The  Phrygian  bonnet  was 
an  elevated  cap  without  a  brim,  the 
apex  turned  over  in  front.  It  is  known 
as  the  "cap  of  liberty."  An  ancient 
figure  of  Liberty  in  the  times  of  An- 
tonius  Livius,  A.D.  115,  holds  the  cap 
in  the  right  hand.  The  Persians  wore 
soft  caps ;  plumed  hats  were  the  head- 
dress of  the  Syrian  corps  of  Xerxes ; 
the  broad-brim  was  worn  by  the  Mace- 
donian kings.  Castor  means  a  beaver. 
The  Armenian  captive  wore  a  plug  hat. 
The  merchants  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury wore  a  Flanders  beaver.  Charles 
VII,  in  1469,  wore  a  felt  hat  lined  with 
red,  and  plumed.  The  English  men 
and  women  in  15 10  wore  close  woolen 
or  knitted  caps ;  tw^o  centuries  ago  hats 
v.'ere  worn  in  the  house.  Pepys,  in  his 
diary,  wrote :  "September,  1664,  got  a 
severe  cold  because  I  took  off  my  hat 
at  dinner"  ;  and  again,  in  January,  1665, 
he  got  another  cold  by  sitting  too  long 
with  his  head  bare,  to  allow  his  wife'5 
maid  to  comb  his  hair  and  wash  his 
ears  ;  and  Lord  Clarendon,  in  his  essay, 
speaking  of  the  decay  of  respect  due 
the  aged,  says  "that  in  his  younger  days 
he  never  kept  his  hat  on  before  those 
older  than  himself,  except  at  dinner." 
In  the  thirteenth  century  Pope  Innocent 
IV  allowed  the  cardinals  the  use  of  the 
scarlet  cloth  hat.  The  hats  now  in  use 
are  the  cloth  hat,  leather  hat,  paper  hat, 
silk  hat,  opera  hat,  spring-brim  hat, 
and  straw  hat. 

What  Is  the  Hottest  Spot  on  Earth? 

The  hottest  regions  on  earth  is  said 
to  bo' along  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  lit- 
tle or  no  rain  falls.  At  Bahrein  the 
arid  shore  has  no  fresh  water,  yet  a 
comparatively  numerous  population  con- 
trive to  live  there,  thanks  to  the  cojhous 
si>rings  which  break  forth  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea.  The  fresh  water  is 
got  by  diving.  The  diver,  sitting  in  his 
boat,  winds  a  great  goat-skin  bag 
around  his  left  arm,  the  hand  grasi)ing 
its  mouth  ;   then   he  takes   in   his   right 


hand  a  heavy  stone,  to  which  is  attached 
a  strong  line,  and  thus  equipped  he 
plunges  in,  and  quickly  reaches  the  bot- 
tom. Instantly  opening  the  bag  over  the 
strong  jet  of  fresh  water,  he  springs 
up  the  ascending  current,  at  the  same 
time  closing  the  bag,  and  is  helped 
aboard.  The  stone  is  then  hauled  up, 
and  the  diver,  after  taking  breath, 
plunges  in  again.  The  source  of  the 
copious  submarine  springs  is  thought 
to  be  in  the  green  hills  of  Osman,  some 
500  or  600  miles  distant. 

Where  Do  We  Get  Ivory? 

Ivory  is  a  hard  substance,  not  unlike 
bone,  of  which  the  teeth  of  most  mam- 
mals chiefly  consist,  the  dentine  or 
tooth-substance  which  in  transverse  sec- 
tions shows  lines  of  dififerent  color  run- 
ning in  circular  arcs.  It  is  used  exten- 
sively for  industrial  purposes  and  is 
derived  froni  the  elephant,  walrus,  hip- 
popotamus, narwhal,  and  some  other 
animals.  The  ivory  of  the  tusks  of  the 
African  elephant  is  held  in  the  highest 
estimation  by  manufacturers ;  the  tusks 
vary  in  size,  ranging  from  a  few  ounces 
in  weight  to  170  pounds.  Holtzapfifel 
states  that  he  saw  fossil  tusks  on  the 
banks  of  rivers  of  Northern  Siberia 
which  weighed  186  pounds  each.  Ivory 
is  simply  tooth-substance  of  exceptional 
hardness,  toughness,  and  elasticity,  due 
to  the  firmness  and  regularity  of  the 
dentinal  tubules  which  radiate  from  the 
axial  pulp-cavity  to  the  periphery  of  the 
tooth. 


How  Did  Trial  by  Jury  Originate? 

A  jury  consists  of  a  certain  number 
of  men  selected  according  to  law  and 
sworn  to  incjuire  into  and  determine 
facts  concerning  a  cause  or  an  accusa- 
tion submitted  to  them,  and  to  declare 
the  truth  according  to  the  evidence. 
The  custom  of  trying  accused  persons 
before  a  jury,  as  practised  in  this  coun- 
try and  Kngland,  is  the  natural  out- 
growth of  rudimentary  forms  of  trial  in 
vogue  among  our  Anglo-Saxon  ances- 
tors. The  ]>resent  system  of  trial  by 
jury  is  the  result  of  a  gradual  growth 


240 


ANIMALS  WHICH    FORETELL  THE  WEATHER 


under  the  English  Common  Law.  There 
is  no  special  reason  why  twelve  is  the 
usual  number  chosen  for  a  complete 
jury  except  the  necessity  for  limiting 
the  number.  In  a  grand  jury  the  num- 
ber according  to  law  must  not  be  less 
than  twelve  nor  more  than  twenty-three, 
and  twelve  votes  are  necessary  to  fuiil 
an  indictment.  The  ancient  Romans 
also  had  a  form  of  trial  before  a  pre- 
siding judge  and  a  body  of  judices. 
The  right  of  trial  by  jury  is  guaranteed 
by  the  United  States  Constitution 
in  all  criminal  cases,  and  in  civil 
cases  where  the  amount  in  dispute 
exceeds  $20.  A  petit  or  trial  jury 
consists  of  twelve  men,  selected  by 
lot  from  among  the  citizens  residing 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court. 
Their  duty  is  to  determine  questions  of 
fact  in  accordance  with  the  weight  of 
testimony  presented  and  report  their 
finding  to  the  presiding  judge.  An  im- 
partial jury  is  assured  by  drawing  by 
lot  and  then  giving  the  accused,  in  a 
criminal  case,  the  right  to  dismiss  a 
certain  number  without  reason  and  cer- 
tain others  for  good  cause.  Each  of 
the  jurymen  must  meet  certain  legal  re- 
quirements as  to  capacity  in  general  and 
fitness  for  the  particular  case,  upon 
which  he  is  to  sit,  and  must  take  an  oath 
to  decide  without  prejudice  and  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony.  A  coroner's  jury 
or  jury  of  inquest  is  usually  composed 
of  from  six  to  fifteen  persons,  sum- 
moned to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  sud- 
den or  unexplained  deaths. 

Can  Animals  Foretell  the  Weather? 

Certain  movements  on  the  part  of  the 
animal  creation  before  a  change  of 
weather  appear  to  indicate  a  reasoning 
faculty.  Such  seems  to  be  the  case 
with  the  common  garden  spider,  which, 
on  the  apj)roach  of  rainy  or  windy 
weather,  will  be  found  to  shorten  and 
strengthen  the  guys  of  his  web,  length- 
ening the  same  when  the  storm  is  over. 
There  is  a  popular  superstition  that  it 
is  unlucky  for  an  angler  to  meet  a  single 
magpie,  but  two  of  the  birds  together 
are  a  good  omen.  The  reason  is  that 
the  birds  foretell  the  coming  of  cold  or 


stormy  weather,  and  at  such  times,  in- 
stead of  searching  for  food  for  their 
young  in  pairs,  one  will  always  remain 
on  the  nest.  Sea-gulls  predict  storms  by 
assembling  on  the  land,  as  they  know 
that  the  rain  will  bring  earthworms  and 
larvne  to  the  surface.  This,  however, 
is  merely  a  search  for  food,  and  is  due 
to  the  same  instinct  which  teaches  the 
swallow  to  fly  high  in  tine  weather,  and 
skim  along  the  ground  when  foul  is 
coming.  They  simply  follow  the  flies 
and  gnats,  which  remain  in  the  warm 
strata  of  the  air.  The  different  tribes 
of  wading  birds  always  migrate  before 
rain,  likewise  to  hunt  for  food.  Many 
birds  foretell  rain  by  warning  cries  and 
uneasy  actions, and  swine  will  carry  hay 
and  straw  to  hiding-places,  oxen  will 
lick  themselves  the  wrong  way  of  the 
hair,  sheep  will  bleat  and  skip  about, 
hogs  turned  out  in  the  woods  will  come 
grunting  and  squealing,  colts  will  rub 
their  backs  against  the  ground,  crows 
will  gather  in  crowds,  crickets  will  sing 
more  loudly,  flies  come  into  the  house, 
frogs  croak  and  change  color  to  a  din- 
gier hue,  dogs  eat  grass,  and  rooks  soar 
like  hawks.  It  is  probable  that  many  of 
these  actions  are  due  to  actual  uneasi- 
ness, similar  to  that  which  all  who  are 
troubled  with  corns  or  rheumatism  ex- 
perience before  a  storm,  and  are  caused 
both  by  the  variation  in  barometric  pres- 
sure and  the  changes  in  the  electrical 
condition  of  the  atmosphere. 

Nearest   Approach   Ever   Made   to   Per- 
petual Motion  in  Mechanics. 

An  inventor  has  patented  a  double 
electric  battery  which  seems  to  come 
exceedingly  near  to  perj)etual  motion. 
Instead  of  using  the  zinc  battery,  he 
professes  to  have  hit  upon  a  solution 
which  makes  a  battery  seven  times  as 
powerful  as  the  zinc  battery,  with  ab- 
solutely no  waste  of  material.  The 
power  of  the  battery  grows  gradually 
less  in  a  few  hours  of  use,  but  returns 
to  its  original  unit  when  allowed  to' rest 
a  few  hours.  He  has  two  batteries  so 
arranged  that  the  power  is  shifted  from 
one  to  the  other  every  three  hours.  A 
little   machine  has  been    running    for 


HOW   PLANTS   BREATHE 


241 


some  years  in  the  patent  office  at  New 
York.  Certain  parts  of  the  mechanism 
are  constructed  of  dififerent  expansive 
capacities,  and  the  machine  is  worked 
by  the  expansion  and  contraction  of 
these  under  the  usual  variations  of  tem- 
perature. In  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford  there  is  an  apparatus  which 
has  chimed  two  little  bells  continuously 
for  forty  years,  by  the  energy  of  an  ap- 
parently inexhaustible  "dry-pile"  of 
very  low  electrical  energy.  A  church 
clock  in  Brussels  is  wound  up  by  atmos- 
pheric expansion  induced  by  the  heat  of 
tile  sun.  As  long  as  the  sun  shines  this 
clock  will  go  till  its  works  wear  out. 
Mr.  D.  L.  Goff,  a  wealthy  American, 
has  in  his  hall  an  old-fashioned  clock, 
\v  hich,  so  long  as  the  house  is  occupied, 
never  runs  down.  Whenever  the  front 
door  is  opened  or  closed,  the  winding 
arrangements  of  the  clock,  which  are 
connected  with  the  door  by  a  rod  with 
gearing  attachments,  are  given  a  turn, 
so  that  the  persons  leaving  and  enter- 
ing the  house  keep  the  clock  constantly 
wound  up. 

Do  Plants  Breathe? 

Plants,  like  animals,  breathe  the  air ; 
plants  breathe  through  their  leaves  and 
stems  just  as  animals  do  by  means  of 
their  respiratory  organs.  When  a 
young  plant  is  analyzed  it  is  found  to 
consist  chiefly  of  water,  which  is  all  re- 
moved from  the  soil ;  there  is  about  75 
per  cent  or  more  of  this  fluid  present, 
and  the  rest  is  solid  material.  Of  this 
latter  by  far  the  most  abundant  con- 
stituent is  carbon,  almost  every  atom  of 
v.-hich  is  removed  from  the  atmosphere 
by  the  vital  action  of  minute  bodies  con- 
tained in  the  green  leaves.  The  carbon 
is  taken  into  the  i)lant  as  carbonic  acid 
gas.  Plants  also  absorb  oxygen,  hydro- 
gen, and  nitrogen  from  the  atmos])hcrc 
in  different  f|uantities  through  their 
leaves,  and  also  by  means  of  their  roots. 
These  new  proflucts  stored  arc  in  turn 
used  in  building  up  the  different  organs 
of  the  i)Iant.  Plants  give  off  used-up 
moisture  through  their  leaves,  just  as 
animals  perspire  through  the  pores  of 
their  skins.  Calculations  have  been 
made  as  to  the  anutunt  of   water  thus 


perspired  by  plants.  The  sunflower, 
only  3^  ft.  high,  with  5,616  square 
inches  of  surface  exposed  to  the  air, 
gives  off  as  much  moisture  as  a  man. 

What  Depth  of  Snow  Is  Equivalent  to 
an  Inch  of  Rain? 

Newly  fallen  snow  having  a  depth  of 
about  1 1  1-3  inches  is  equivalent  to  one 
inch  of  rain.  A  cubic  foot  of  newly 
fallen  snow  Aveighs  55^  pounds  and  a 
cubic  foot  of  fresh  or  rain  water  weighs 
62^  pounds  or  1,000  ounces.  An  inch 
of  rain  means  a  gallon  of  water  spread 
over  every  two  square  feet,  or  about  a 
hundred  tons  to  every  acre.  The  den- 
sity of  snow  naturally  varies  a  good 
deal  according  to  the  speed  with  which 
it  falls.  Temperature,  also,  has  much 
to  do  with  its  bulk.  In  cold,  crisp 
weather,  when  the  thermometer  reg- 
isters several  degrees  of  frost,  snow 
comes  down  light  and  dry ;  but  in  moist, 
cold  weather,  when  the  temperature  is 
only  just  below  thirty-two  degrees,  the 
snow  falls  in  large,  partially  thawed 
flakes,  and  occupies  much  less  space 
where  it  falls  than  that  which  reaches 
the  earth  during  the  prevalence  of  a 
greater  degree  of  cold. 

How  Are  the  Stars  Counted? 

Stars  are  counted  by  means  of  the 
telescope  and  photography.  The  As- 
tronomer-Royal for  Ireland,  Sir  Robert 
S.  Ball,  in  one  of  his  lectures  men- 
tioned a  photograph  which  had  been 
ol)tained  by  Mr.  Isaac  Roberts  rci:)re- 
senting  a  small  part  of  the  constellation 
of  the  Swan.  The  picture  is  about  as 
large  as  the  page  of  a  copy-book,  and 
it  is  so  crowded  with  stars  that  it 
v;ould  puzzle  most  people  to  count 
them ;  but  they  have  been  counted  by  a 
patient  person,  and  the  number  is  about 
16,000.  Many  of  these  stars  are  too 
faint  ever  to  be  seen  in  the  greatest  of 
telescopes  yet  erected.  Attempts  arc 
now  being  made  to  obtain  a  munber  of 
similar  i)hotographs  which  shall  cover 
the  whole  extent  of  the  heavens.  The 
task  is  indeed  an  immense  one.  Assum- 
ing the  plates  used  to  be  the  same  size 
as  that  above  mentioned,  it  would  re- 
(juire  at  least  10,000  of  tlicin  to  repre- 


242 


HOW    FAST   DOES  THOUGHT   TRAVEL 


sent  the  entire  sky.  The  counting  of 
stars  by  the  telescope  was  first  reduced 
to  a  system  by  the  Herschels,  who  in- 
troduced "star-gauges,"  which  were 
simply  a  calculation  by  averages.  A 
telescope  of  i8  in.  aperture.  20  ft.  focus, 
and  a  magnifying  power  of  iSo,  giving 
a  field  of  view  15  in.  in  diameter,  was 
used  for  the  purpose.  The  process  con- 
sisted in  directing  this  instrument  to  a 
part  of  the  sky  and  counting  the  stars 
in  the  field.  This,  repeated  hundreds  of 
times,  gave  a  fair  idea  of  the  average 
nimiber  of  stars  in  a  circle  of  15  in. 
diameter  in  all  parts  of  the  sky.  From 
this  as  a  basis  it  is  possible  to  reckon 
the  number  of  stars  in  any  known  area. 

How  Is  the  Voluine  of  Sound  Measured  ? 
Sound  arises  from  vibrations  giving  a 
wave-like  motion  to  the  surrounding 
atmosphere,  the  wave  gradually  en- 
larging as  it  leaves  the  source  of  dis- 
turbance, while  at  the  same  time  the 
motion  of  the  air  particles  becomes  less 
and  less.  The  simplest  method  of  de- 
termining the  number  of  vibrations  of  a 
sound  is  by  means  of  Savart's  appa- 
ratus. This  consists  of  two  wheels — a 
toothed  or  cog-wheel  and  a  driving- 
wheel.  They  are  so  adjusted  that  the 
cog-wheel  is  made  to  revolve  with  great 
rapidity,  its  teeth  hitting  upon  a  card 
fixed  near  it.  The  number  of  revolu- 
tions is  indicated  by  a  counter  attached 
to  the  axis  of  the  cog-wheel.  Suppose 
that  sound  is  traveling  in  the  air  at  the 
rate  of  1,000  ft.  per  second,  and  that 
Savart's  wheel  is  giving  a  sound  pro- 
duced by  200  taps  on  the  card  per  sec- 
ond, it  follows  that  in  i.ooo  ft.  there 
will  be  200  waves  or  vibrations,  and  if 
there  be  200  waves  in  1,000  ft.  each 
wave  or  vibration  must  be  5  ft.  in 
length.  The  velocity  of  sound  through 
air  varies  with  the  temperature  of  the 
latter,  but  is  usually  reckoned  at  1,130 
ft.  per  second. 

At  What  Rate  Does  Thought  Travel? 
Thought  travels  iii  feet  per  second, 
or  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  per 
minute.  Elaborate  experiments  have 
been  made  by  Professors  Heimholtz, 
Flersch,     and    Bonders,    to    ascertain 


the    facts   on   this   question,   the   result 
of    which    was    that    they    found    the 
process   of   thought   varied   in   rapidity 
ill    dififerent    individuals,   children    and 
old  persons  thinking  more  slowly  than 
people    of    middle    age,    and    ignorant 
people  more  slowly  than  the  educated. 
It  takes  about  two-fifths  of  a  second  to 
call  to  mind  the  country  in  which  a  well- 
known  town  is  situated,  or  the  language 
in  which  a  familiar  author  wrote.    \\  e 
can  think  of  the    name    of    the    next 
month  in  half  the  time  we  need  to  think 
of  the  name  of  the  last  month.    It  takes 
on  the  average  one-third  of  a  second  to 
add  numbers  containing  one  digit  and 
half  a  second  to  multiply  them.    Those 
used  to  reckoning  can  add  two  to  three 
in  less  time  than  others  ;  those  familiar 
v.-ith    literature    can    remember    more 
quickly   than    others   that    Shakespeare 
wrote   "Hamlet."     It   takes   longer   to 
mention  a  month  when  a  season  has 
been  given  than  to  say  to  what  season 
a  month  belongs.     The  time  taken  up 
in  choosing  a  motion,  the  "will  time," 
can  be  measured  as  well  as  the  time 
taken   up   in   perceiving.      If   it   is   not 
known  which  of  two  colored  lights  is  to 
be  presented,  and  you  offer  to  lift  your 
right  hand  if  it  be  red  and  your  left  if 
it  be  blue,  about   one-thirteenth   of   a 
second  is  necessary  to  initiate  the  cor- 
rect motion. 

What    Is    the    Largest    Tree    In    the 

World? 

In  San  Francisco,  encircled  by  a  cir- 
cus tent  of  ample  dimensions,  is  a  sec- 
tion of  the  largest  tree  in  the  world — 
exceeding  the  diameter  of  the  famous 
tree  of  Calaveras  by  five  feet.  This 
monster  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  was 
discovered  in  1874,  on  Tule  River,  Tu- 
lare County,  about  seventy-five  miles 
from  \'isaHa.  At  some  remote  period 
its  top  had  been  broken  off  by  the  ele- 
ments, or  some  unknown  forces,  yet 
when  it  was  discovered  it  had  an  eleva- 
tion of  240  feet.  The  trunk  of  the  tree 
was  III  feet  in  circumference,  with  a 
diameter  of  35  feet  4  inches.  The  sec- 
tion on  exhibition  is  hollowed  out,  leav- 
ing about  a  foot  of  bark  and  several 
inches  of  the  wood.    The  interior  is  100 


WHAT   MAKES   US   FEEL  HUNGRY 


243 


feet  in  circumference  and  30  feet  in 
diameter,  and  it  has  a  seating  capacit)^ 
of  about  200.  It  was  cut  oil  from  the  tree 
about  twelve  feet  above  the  base,  and 
required  the  labor  of  four  men  for  nine 
days  to  chop  it  down.  In  the  center  of 
the  tree,  and  extending  through  its 
v.-hole  length,  was  a  rotten  core  about 
two  feet  in  diameter,  partially  filled 
with  a  sogg)%  decayed  vegetation  that 
had  fallen  into  it  from  the  top.  In  the 
center  of  this  cavity  was  found  the 
trunk  of  a  little  tree  of  the  same  spe- 
cies, having  perfect  bark  on  it,  and 
showing  regular  growth.  It  was  of 
uniform  diameter,  an  inch  and  a  half 
all  the  way :  and  when  the  tree  fell  and 
split  open,  this  curious  stem  was  traced 
for  nearly  100  feet.  The  rings  in  this 
m.onarch  of  the  forest  show  its  age  to 
have  been  4,840  years. 

Where   Did   the    Term   Yankees   Origi- 
nate? 

This  is  a  word  said  to  be  a  corrup- 
tion of  Yengees,  the  Indian  pronuncia- 
tion of  Enghsh,  or  of  the  French  "An- 
glais," when  referring  to  the  English 
Colonists.  It  was  first  applied  to  the 
Kew  Englanders  by  the  British  soldiers 
as  a  term  of  reproach,  later  by  the  Eng- 
lish to  Americans  generally,  and  still 
later  to  the  people  of  the  North  by  the 
Southerners. 


How  Far  Does  the  Air  Extend? 

It  is,  perhaps,  generally  known  that 
enveloping  the  earth  is  a  layer  of  air 
fifty  or  more  miles  in  thickness.  Just 
liow  thick  this  layer  is  we  do  not  know, 
but  we  do  know  that  it  extends  man}'^ 
miles  from  the  earth.  Y'ou  may  assure 
yourselves  of  this  in  a  very  simple  man- 
ner by  watching  the  shooting  stars  that 
may  be  seen  on  any  clear  night.  These 
are  nothing  but  masses  of  rocks  that 
give  ofT  light  only  when  they  have  been 
made  red-hot  by  friction  with  the  air 
in  their  rapid  flight.  The  fact  that  we 
often  see  these  stars  while  they  are 
still  many  miles  from  the  earth  ])roves 
to  us  that  the  air  through  which  they 
are  passing  extends  to  that  height. 


What   Makes    Us   Feel   Hungry? 

Htmger  is  a  peculiar  craving  which 
we  are  accustomed  to  sa)^  comes  from 
the  stomach.  It  is  the  business  of  the 
stomach  to  change  such  food  as  we 
take  into  it  in  such  a  way  that  the  rest 
of  the  organs  of  the  body  which  we 
have  for  the  purpose  can  make  blood 
out  of  it.  When  you  feel  the  sensa- 
tion of  hunger,  it  means  that  the  blood- 
producing  system  is  calling  on  the 
stomach  to  furnish  more  blood-mak- 
ing material.  The  stomach  prepares 
the  food  for  blood  production  by  mix- 
ing with  it  certain  juices  which  the 
stomach  is  able  to  supply.  As  soon 
as  the  stomach  is  then  called  upon  to 
supply  more  blood-making  material, 
it  goes  to  work  on  what  is  in  the 
stomach  and  begins  mixing  things.  If, 
however,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
stomach,  the  craving  which  we  call 
hunger  is  produced.  It  is,  therefore, 
then  not  altogether  the  stomach  which 
makes  us  hungry,  but  the  parts  of  our 
body  which  actually  turn  the  food  into 
blood  after  the  stomach  has  prepared 
it 

To  prove  this  it  is  only  necessary 
to  say  that  the  sensation  of  hunger  will 
stop  if  food  which  is  easily  absorbed 
and,  therefore,  does  not  need  the 
preparation  which  the  stomach  gen- 
erally gives,  is  introduced  into  the  sys- 
tem through  other  parts  of  the  body, 
as,  for  instance,  by  injecting  it  into  the 
large  intestine,  which  is  a  part  of  the 
body,  the  food  passes  through  after 
it  leaves  the  stomach  ordinarily. 

What  Makes  Us  Thirsty? 

Thirst  is  a  sensation  of  dryness  and 
heat  which  is  generally  communicated 
to  us  through  the  tongue  and  throat. 
The  sensation  of  thirst  can  be  arti- 
ficially produced  by  passing  a  current 
of  air  over  the  membranes  which 
cover  the  tongue  and  throat,  but  thirst 
is  naturally  due  to  a  shortage  of  water 
in  the  body.  The  human  body  requires 
a  great  deal  of  water  to  keep  it  in  con- 
dition, and  when  the  sujiply  becomes 
low  a  warning  is  given  to  us  by  mak- 
ing the  membranes  of  the  tongue  and 
throat  dry. 


244 


WHERE   THE    HORIZON    IS 


In  connection  with  thirst,  however, 
as  in  the  case  of  hunger,  where  the 
warning  is  given  by  the  stomach,  thirst 
will  be  appeased  by  the  introduction  of 
water,  either  into  the  blood,  the 
stomach  or  the  large  intestine,  with- 
out having  touched  either  the  tongue 
or  throat,  which  proves  that  it  is  not 
our  tongue  or  throat  that  is  thirsty, 
but  the  body  itself. 

What  Is  Pain  and  Why  Does  It  Hurt? 

Pain  is  the  result  of  an  injury  to 
some  part  of  our  bodies,  or  a  disturbed 
condition — a  change  from  the  normal 
condition.  Pain  is  caused  by  nerves 
in  the  body.  The  network  of  nerves 
coming  in  big  nerves  from  the  back 
bone  or  spinal  chord  branches  out  in 
all  directions,  and  near  the  surface  of 
the  skin  they  spread  out  like  the  tiny 
twigs  of  a  tree,  covering  every  point 
of  the  body.  Some  parts  of  our  bodies 
are  more  sensitive  than  others.  That 
is  beca'jse  the  nerves  are  then  nearer 
the  surface  or  else  there  are  more 
nerves  in  that  part.  The  heel  is  per- 
haps the  least  sensitive  part  of  the 
body,  as  the  nerves  do  not  lie  so  near 
the  surface  there. 

Pain  is  not  a  thing  w'hich  you  can 
make  a  picture  of  or  describe  in 
words.  Pain  is  a  sensation  of  the  brain 
caused  by  a  disturbance  of  conditions 
in  some  part  of  the  body.  If  you  cut 
your  finger,  you  cut  certain  veins  or 
arteries  and  also  the  tiny  nerves  in  the 
finger.  The  nerves  immediately  let  the 
brain  know  that  they  are  injured,  and 
the  brain  sets  to  w^ork  to  have  the 
damage  repaired.  But  there  is  a  con- 
gestion right  where  the  cut  is.  The 
veins  being  cut,  the  blood  w^hich  would 
ordinarily  flow  through  them  back  to 
the  heart,  pours  out  into  the  cut  and 
the  inside  of  your  finger  is  thus  ex- 
posed to  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  and  the 
action  of  the  air  on  the  exposed  part 
helps  to  make  the  pain.  It  is  not  your 
finger,  however,  that  hurts.  It  is  the 
shock  that  your  brain  gets  when  you 
cut  your  finger  that  hurts. 

A  pain  in  your  stomach  is  a  pain 
caused  by  something  else  than  a  cut. 


If  the  stomach  could  always  digest 
everything  or  any  amount  of  stuflf  you 
put  in  it,  you  would  not  have  a 
stomach  pain.  But  sometimes  you  put 
things  into  your  stomach  through 
your  mouth,  of  course,  that  the 
stomach  cannot  handle.  Or,  it  may  1)C 
a  combination  of  a  number  of  things 
that  cause  this  unusual  condition  in 
your  stomach.  The  stomach  makes  a 
special  efifort  to  get  rid  of  this  trouble- 
some substance  and  generally  suc- 
ceeds eventually,  but  while  the  fight 
is  going  on,  it  pains  or  hurts  you. 

Pain  is  the  result  of  a  disturbance 
of  the  nerves.  It  is  just  the  opposite 
of  gladness.  We  sometimes  are  so 
glad  we  feel  good  all  over.  Pain  is 
just  the  opposite.  You  can  prove  that 
pain  is  not  a  real  thing  but  only  a  sen- 
sation. Perhaps  you  have  had  tooth- 
ache. You  go  to  the  dentist  and 
he  kills  the  nerve  or  takes  it  out.  After 
that  you  cannot  have  the  toothache  in 
that  tooth  again,  because  there  is  no 
nerve  there  to  telegraph  to  the  brain, 
even  though  the  cause  of  the  hurt 
still  exists.  You  cannot  feel  pain  un- 
less the  brain  knows  about  the  injury. 


What  Is  the  Horizon? 

Of  course  you  know  what  the  hori- 
zon is.  It  is  easiest  to  see  the  horizon 
at  sea  when  out  of  sight  of  land.  There, 
when  you  look  in  any  direction  from 
the  ship  to  the  place  where  the  sea  and 
the  sky  meet  you  see  a  line  which,  if 
you  follow  with  your  eye  as  you  turn 
completely  around,  makes  a  perfect 
circle.  It  looks  as  though  it  marked  the 
boundary  of  the  earth.  On  land  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  as  much  of  the  horizon 
at  one  time,  because  of  buildings  and 
trees  and  hills  in  the  woods  and  else- 
where, but  if  the  land  were  perfectly 
smooth  like  the  sea  and  there  were  no 
trees  or  buildings  or  hills  in  the  w^ay, 
you  could  see  just  as  perfect  a  circle 
on  land  as  on  sea.  This  proves  that 
the  horizon  is  a  movable  circle.  On 
land  it  is  where  the  earth  and  sky  ap- 
pear to  meet,  and  on  water  it  is  v/here 
sky  and  water  appear  to  meet. 


WHY   WE  HAVE  TO  DIE 


245 


How  Far  Away  Is  the  Horizon? 

The  actual   distance   of    the  horizon 
away  from  us  depends  altogether  upon 
the   height   above   the    sea   level    from 
which  we  are  looking  as  far  as  we  can. 
The  horizon  is  always  as  far  away  as 
we  can  see.     At  the  seashore,   where 
we  are  practically  on  a  level  with  the 
water,  we  cannot  see  so   far  as  when 
we  are  up  on  a  bluff  or  hill  overlook- 
ing the   sea.     The   higher   we   go   up 
straight  from  a  given  point  the  greater 
the  distance  we  can  see  up  to  a  certain 
point  and  the  farther  away  the  horizon 
will  appear.     The  height  of  the  person 
looking,  of  course,  figures  in  this,  be- 
cjiuse  when  you  are  at  sea  level  it  is 
only  your   feet   really  that  are  at   sea 
level  (if  you  are  standing  up  straight) 
and  the  distance  of  the  horizon  is  meas- 
ured from  the  eye  of  the  person  look- 
ing.    A  boy  or  girl  of  ten  would  be, 
say,  a  little  over   four   feet  high,  and 
the   eyes   of    such   a   person   would   be 
about  four  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.     At  that  height  the  horizon  would 
be  about  two  and  a  half  miles  away. 
If    the    eyes    are    six    feet    above    sea 
level  the  distance  of  the  horizon  will 
be    about    three    miles,    so    that    prac- 
tically every  one  sees  a  different  hori- 
zon,    that     is,     one    that     appears     at 
a      different      distance.       A      hundred 
feet     above     the     level     of     the     sea 
the    horizon    will    be    more    than    thir- 
teen  miles   away,   while   at    looo   feet 
altitude   it    would    be   42    miles    away, 
and   if   you   could   go   a  mile   into   the 
.'lir  the  horizon  would  appear  96  miles 
from  where  you  are.     The  higher  you 
go  the    farther  away  the  circle   which 
apparently    marks    the    joining    of    the 
e.'.rth  and  sky  appears. 

Why  Can  We   See   Farther  When  We 

Are  Up  High? 

Remcinlx-r  that  tiie  earth  is  round 
and  you  will  probably  be  able  to  an- 
swer the  question  yourself.  This  one. 
like  most  (|uestions  boys  and  girls  ask, 
only  requires  a  little  thought.  The 
earth,  of  course,  as  we  have  learned 
long  ago,  is  a  globe.  When  you  look 
out  on  the  land  or  the  sea  from  a  high 
place  you  can  see  more  of  the  earth's 
round  surface  before  the  curve  of  the 


earth's  surface  takes  things  beyond 
the  range  of  vision.  If  you  are  on  a 
bluff  100  feet  high  at  the  seashore  and 
looking  toward  a  point  where  a  ship 
is  coming  toward  shore,  you  will  be 
able  to  see  the  ship  much  sooner  than 
if  you  were  at  the  sea  level.  In  exact 
words,  you  actually  see  more  of  the 
earth's  surface  the  higher  up  you  are, 
because,  as  you  go  up  your  position  in 
relation  to  the  curvature  of  the  earth's 
surface  changes. 

What  Makes  lobsters  Turn  Red? 

When  a  lobster  is  taken  out  of  the 
lobster  trap  with  which  the  fisherman 
traps  him,  he  is  green,  but  when  he 
comes  to  the  table  as  a  choice  morsel 
of  food  his  shell  is  red.  We  know  that 
he  has  been  boiled  and  we  know  that 
he  goes  into  the  boiling  water  green 
and  comes  out  red.  This  change  in 
the  color  of  the  shell  of  the  lobster  is 
the  result  of  the  effect  of  boiling  wa- 
ter on  the  coloring  material  in  the 
shell.  When  the  lobster  is  put  in  the 
boiling  water  the  process  of  boiling 
produces  a  chemical  change  in  the 
color  material  in  the  lobster's  shell. 
There  is  no  particular  reason  why  the 
lobster  should  turn  red,  excepting  that 
that  is  the  effect  boiling  water  has  on 
the  coloring  matter  in  the  shell. 

Why  Do  We  Have  to  Die? 

Death  must  come  to  all  things  that 
have  life.  .  All  matter  in  the  world  is 
either  living  (animate)  or  dead  (in- 
animate). Inanimate  things  do  not 
change.  They  remain  always  the  same. 
We  can  change  the  form  and  size  of 
inanimate  things,  and  particles  of  them 
even  help  to  make  up  the  bodies  of  the 
living  things,  but  what  they  are  made 
of  always  remains  wiiat  it  was. 

Death  is  one  of  the  things  that  must 
occur  if  we  are  to  contiinie  to  have 
w.orc  life.  'I'he  whole  i)lan  of  living 
tilings  includes  the  al)ility  to  re])r()- 
(luce  themselves.  I^\'er\-  kind  of  life 
has  the  power  to  produce  lil'c  like  it- 
self and  this  process  of  reproduction 
is  contiiuious.  If  there  were  no  death, 
then  tile  world  would  soon  be  crowded 
with  living  things  to  the  point  where 
there  would  be  neither  room  nor  food. 


246 


WHERE  WINDOW   GLASS   COMES   FROM 


X?!- 


.^-:ak.%;    ;*^-v    ■J' 


L 


Making  Plate  Glass 


What  Is  the  Difference  Between  Plate 
Glass  and  Window  Glass? 

How  is  plate  glass  made?  These 
questions  are  asked  very  frequently. 
The  two  products  are  wholly  unlike 
each  other;  and  we  wish  to  show 
wherein  lies  the  difference.  We  shall 
tell  how  plate  glass  is  made ;  and  w^e 
hope  to  make  it  clear  that  great  care, 
time  and  expense  are  involved  in  its 
manufacture. 

The  raw  materials  may  be  said  to  be 
virtually  the  same  in  plate  glass  as  in 


window  glass ;  the  main  difference  be- 
ing that  in  plate  glass  greater  care  is 
exercised  in  selecting  and  ])urifying  tlie 
ingredients.  Window  glass  is  made 
with  a  blow-pipe.  The  work  requires 
skill  on  the  part  of  the  operator;  but 
the  process  is  quite  simple  and  rapid. 
And  the  result  is,  naturally,  a  compar- 
atively ordinary  and  indifferent  prod- 
uct. On  the  other  hand,  the  superb 
quality  of  plate  glass  is  owing  to  the 
elaborate  method  of  producing  it. 

Commercial    plate    glass     was    first 
made  in   France  somewhat  more  than 


Pictures  herewith   by   courtesy   of   I'ittsburgh   Plate    Glass   Co. 


THE   CLAY   MUST  BE  TRAMPLED  WITH   BARE   FEET        247 


MIKING   SILICA 


two  hundred  years  ago ;  although  glass 
in  one  form  or  another  'has  been  in  use 
for  many  centuries.  Apparently  glass 
was  known  in  Egypt  fully  four  thou- 
sand years  ago. 

The  materials  used  are  silica  (w'hite 
sand),  carbonate  of  soda  (soda  ash), 
and  lime.  Other  materials,  as  arsenic 
and  charcoal,  are  used  in  small  propor- 
tions, but  the  main  ingredients  are  the 
first  three  named. 

Probably  it  is  little  imagined  that 
in  the  production  of  plate  glass,  mining 
is  involved  in  two  or  more  forms 
(namely  silica  and  coal),  also  the  quar- 
rying of  limestone,  the  chemical  man- 
ufacture of  soda  ash  on  a  large  scale, 
the  reduction  and  treatment  of  fire  clay 
to  its  right  consistency,  an  elaborate  and 
expensive  system  of  pot  naaking;  and 
the  melting,  casting,  roilling,  annealing, 
'grinding  and  polishing  of  the  glass. 

In  special  uses,  as  in  beveled  ])lates 
and  mirrors,  two  more  elaborate  proc- 
esses must  be  aded — beveling  and 
silvering — all  of  which  are  performed 
imder  the  direction  of  e.\y)erts  aided  by 
a  large  amoimt  of  labor  and  expensive 
machinery. 

I'ots  of  fire  clay  take  so  important  a 


part  in  the  successful  manufacture  of 
plate  glass  that  the  subject  deserves 
especial  notice.  The  different  clays 
after  being  mined  are  exposed  to  the 
weather  for  some  time  to  bring  about 
disintegration. 

At  the  proper  stage  fisely  sifted  raw 
clay  is  mixed  with  coarse,  burned  clay 
and  water.  This  reduces  liability  of 
shrinkage  and  cracking.  It  is  then 
"P^g'g'ed,"  or  kneaded  in  a  mill ;  kept 
a  long  time  (sometimes  a  year)  in 
storage  bins  to  ripen;  and  afterwards 
goes  through  the  laborious  process  of 
"treading."  ^Xothing  has  thus  far  been 
found  in  macliinery  by  Avhich  the  right 
kind  of  plasticity  can  be  developed  as 
does  this  primitive  treading  by  the  bare 
feet  of  men.  The  clay  must  be  treaded, 
not  once  or  .twice,  but  many  times. 
The  building  of  pots  is  a  slow,  tedious 
and  time-killing  aft'air;  but  this  is  most 
essential. 

Without  extreme  care,  some  elements 
used  in  the  making  of  the  pots  might  be 
fused  into  glass  while  undergoing  the 
intense  heat  of  the  furnace ;  or  they 
might  break  in  the  handling.  The  av- 
erage j)ot  must  hold  ^about  a  ton  of 
molten  glass,  and  the  average  furnace 


248 


HOW   MELTING   POTS  ARE   MADE 


POT    MAKING. 


heat  necessary  is  about  3,000°  Fahren- 
heit. The  work  is  not  continuous. 
Each  workman  has  several  pots  in  hand 
at  a  time,  and  passes  from  one  to  an- 
other adding  only  a  few  inches  a  day 
to  each  pot,  so  that  a  proper  in- 
terval for  seasoning  be  given.  After 
completion,  comes  the  proper  drying 
out  of  the  pots;  and  this  is  another  fea- 
ture in  which  the  jjreatest  scientific  care 


is  required.  No  pot  may  be  used  until 
it  has  been  left  to  season  for  at  least 
three  months,  and  even  a  year  is  desir- 
able. And  after  all  this  trouble,  the 
pot  has  but  25  days  of  usefulness.  The 
pots  form  one  of  the  heavy  items  of 
expense  in  plate  glass  manufacture ; 
and  upon  their  safety  great  things  de- 
pend. 

The  pot,  having  been  first  brought  to 


MIXING  THE  CLAY, 


TRAMPLING  THE   CLAY. 


HOW  THE  HUGE   PLATES   OF  GLASS   ARE   CAST 


249 


SKIMMING    THE    POT. 

the  necessary  liigh  tempera'ture,  is  filled 
heaping  full  with  its  mixed  "batch" 
of  ground  silica,  soda,  Hme,  etc 
Melting  reduces  the  bulk  so  much  that 
the  pot  is  filled  three  times  before  it 
contains  a  sufficient  charge  of  metal. 
When  the  proper  molten  stage  is 
reached    the   pot   is   lifted   out   of   the 


furnace  by  a  crane;  is  first  carefully 
skimmed  to  remove  surface  impurities, 
and  then  carried  overhead  by  an  elec- 
tric tramway  to  the  casting  table 
This  is  a  large,  massive,  flat  table  of 
iron,  having  as  an  attachment  a  heavy 
iron  roller  which  covers  the  full  width, 
and  arranged  so  as  to  roll  the  entire 
length  of  the  table.  The  sides  of  the 
table  are  fitted  with  adjustable  strips 
which  permit  the  producing  of  plates 
of  dififerent  thicknesses.  The  pasty,  or 
half-fluid  glass  metal  is  now  poured 
upon  the  table  from  the  melting  pot, 
and  the  roller  quickly  passes  over  it, 
leaving  a  layer  of  uniform  thickness. 
The  heavy  roller  is  now  moved  out  of 
the  way,  and  then  by  means  of  a  stow- 
ing tool  the  red  hot  plate  is  shoved 
into  an  annealing  oven.  All  of  these 
stages  of  the  work  have  to  be  per- 
formed with  remarkable  speed,  and  by 
men  of  long  training  and  experience. 
The  plates  remain  for  several  days  in 
the  annealing  oven,  where  the  temper- 
ature is  gradually  reduced  from  an  in- 


CASTINC,    I'l.ATI-.   CLASS. 


250 


HOW  THE   GLASS    PLATES   ARE   GROUND 


PREPARING     THE     GRINDING     TABLE. 

tense  heat  at  first,  until  at  the  end  of 
the  required  period  it  is  no  hotter  than 
an  ordinary  room. 

When  the  plate  is  taken  from  the 
annealing-  oven  it  has  a  rough,  opaque, 
almost    undulating  appearance   on   the 


surfaces.  It  is  only  the  surface,  how- 
ever, for  within  it  is  as  clear  as  crystal. 
First,  it  is  submitted  for  careful  inspec- 
tion, so  that  bubbles  or  other  defects 
may  be  marked  for  cutting  out.  It 
then  goes  to  the  cutter  who  takes  off 
the  rough  edges  and  squares  it  into  the 
riglit  dimensions ;  and  thence  to  the 
grinding  room. 

The  grinding  table  is  a  large  flat  re- 
volving platform  made  of  iron,  twenty- 
five  feet  or  more  in  diameter.  The 
])late  must  be  carried  from  the  anneal- 
ing oven  to  the  grinding  machines,  and 
thence  to  the  racks,  by  men  skilled  in 
the  art.  Twenty  men  are  required  to 
carry  the  larger  plates  of  glass,  ten  on 
each  side,  using  leather  straps  and 
stepping  together  in  perfect  time.  The 
lock-step  is  absolutely  essential  to  pre- 
vent accident.  The  grinding  table  is 
prepared  by  being  flooded  with  plaster 
of  Paris  and  water;  then  the  glass  is 
carefully  lowered,  and  a  number  of 
men  mount  upon  the  plate  and  tramp 
it  into  place  until  it  is  set.  After  this, 
greater  security  is  obtained  by  peg^ging 


GRINDING  THE  PLATES 


HOW  MIRRORS  ARE  MADE 


251 


with  prepared  wooden  pins ;  and  then 
the  table  is  s^et  in  motion.  The  grind- 
ing is  done  by  revolving  runners. 
Sharp  sand  is  fed  upon  the  table,  and  a 
stream  of  water  constantly  flows  over 
it.  After  the  first  cutting  by  the  sand, 
emer}'  is  used  in  a  similar  manner. 

The  plates  are  inspected  after  leav- 
ing the  grinding  room,  and  if  any 
scratches  or  defects  of  any  kind  are 
found  they  are  .marked.  Some  of 
these  can  be  rubbed  down  by  hand. 
There  are  also,  not  infrequently,  nicks 
and  fractures  found  at  this  stage ;  and 
in  such  case  the  plate  must  again  be 
cut  and  squared.  Afterward  comes 
the  polishing,  which  is  done  on  another 
special  table.  The  polishing  material 
is  rouge,  or  iron  peroxide,  applied  wdth 
water,  and  the  rubbing  is  done  by 
blocks  of  felt.  Reciprocating  machin- 
ery lis  so  arranged  that  every  part  of 
the  plate  is  brought  underneath  the 
rubbing  surface. 

The  grinding  and  polishing  has  taken 
away  from  the  original  plate  half  of  its 
thickness,  sometimes  more.  There  is 
no  saving  of  the  material ;  it  has  all 


BEVF.LIN'G  PLATES 


been  washed  away.  When  to  this 
waste  is  added  the  fact  that  fully  half 
of  the  original  weight  of  lime  and  soda 
has  been  released  by  the  heat  of  the 
furnace,  escaping  into  the  atmosphere 
in  fumes  and  acids,  one  may  begin  to 
understand  something  of  the  cost  of 
converting  the  rough  materials  of  sand, 
limestone  and  soda  into  beautiful  plate 
glass. 


In  preparing  plate  glass  for  mirrors 
great  care  must  be  exercised  in  tlie 
selection  of  the  plates.  This  selection 
bears  reference  not  only  to  surface  de- 
fects, but  to  the  quality  in  general ;  de- 
fects which  cannot  ordinarily  be  seen 
are  magnified  many  fold  after  the  glass 
has  received  a  covering  of  silver. 

In  the  process  of  beveling,  the  plate 
passes  through  the  hands  of  skilled 
w^orkmen  of  five  different  divisions, 
namely :  roughers,  emeriers,  smoothers, 
white-wheelers  and»  buffers;  and  dif- 
ferent abrasive  materials  are  used  in 
the  order  indicated  by  the  titles. 
These  materials  are'  sand,  emery,  nat- 
ural sandstone  imported  from  England, 
pumice  and  rouge.    " 

The  roughing  mill  is  a  circular  cast- 
iron  disk  about  28  inches  in  diameter, 
constructed  so  that  the  face  or  top  of 
the  mill  revolves  upon  a  horizontal 
plane  at  a  speed  of  about  250  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  The  sand  is  con- 
veyed to  the  mill  from  above  through 
a  hopper  simultaneously  with  a  stream 
of  water  which  is  played  upon  the  sand 
to  carry  it  to  the  mill.  The  rougher 
places  the  edge  of  the  plate  upon  the 
rapidly  revolving  m'ill,  and  the  cutting 
of  the  bevel  is  done  by  the  passage  of 
the  sand  between  the  mill  and  the  plate 
of  glass.  A  bevel  of  any  desired  width 
may  be  produced.  Pattern  plates  con- 
taining incurves,  mitres,  etc.,  require  a 
practiced  eye  and  gfeat  skill  upon  tlie 
part  of  the  operator^ 

When  the  plate  :reaves  the  rougher's 
hands  the  surface  of  the  bevel  has  been 
ground  so  deep  by  the  coarse  sand  that 
polishing  at  this  stage  is  impossible. 
Consequently,  in  otder  to  produce  a 
surface  fine  enouglv  to  render  it  sus- 
ceptible of  a  high  aim  brilliant  polish  it 
must  go  through  thd  Various  treatmeiUs 
we  have  mentioned.!-^  The  emerier  uses 
a  fine  grade  of  eme^'  on  a  mill  sinu'lar 
in  construction  to'  a  roughing  mill, 
which  takes  away  considerable  of  the 
coarse  surface  given  by  the  first  cutting. 
Then  it  goes  to  the  smoother,  who  re- 
duces the  roughness  slowly  by  using  a 
fine  sandstone  from  l^ngland ;  then  it 
goes  to  the  white-wheeler  who  operates 


252 


HOW   MIRRORS   ARE  SILVERED 


an  upright  poplar-wood  wheel  usini^ 
powdered  pumice  stone  as  an  abrasive ; 
and  then,  as  a  last  stage  it  reaches  the 
buffer,  whose  method  of  operation  is 
shown  in  the  illustration.  The  buffer 
brings  a  high  polish  to  the  bevel  by  the 
use  of  rouge  applied  to  thick  felt  which 
covers  his  wheel. 


SILVERING  MIRROR  PLATES. 


The  plate,  after  leaving  the  beveling 
room,  is  again  carefully  examined  for 
surface  defects.  These  defects  may  con- 
sist of   scratches  caused  inadvertently 


by  j)ermitting  the  surface  of  the  plate 
to  come  into  contact  with  the  abrasive 
material.  These  scratches  are  removed 
by  hand  polishing,  which  must  be  skill- 
fully done ;  otherwise  the  reflection  will 
become  distorted  through  over-polish- 
ing in  a  given  area  or  spot.  The  plate 
is  then  taken  to  a  wash  table  where  the 
surface  to  be  silvered  is  thoroughly 
washed  with  distilled  water ;  after 
which  it  is  taken  to  a  table  that  is  cov- 
vered  with  blankets,  and  which  is 
heated  to  a  temperature  of  from  90° 
to  110°.  The  blanketing  is  to  protect 
the  plate  from  being  scratched,  and  also 
to  catch  all  of  the  silver  waste.  The  sil- 
vering solution  is  nitrate  of  silver  liq- 
uefied by  a  certain  formula,  and  is 
poured  over  the  j^late ;  the  fluid  having 
an  appearance  which  to  the  ordinary 
observer  looks  hke  nothing  other  than 
pure  distilled  water.  Within  a\  few 
minutes  the  silver,  aided  by  a  reactory, 
added  prior  to  pouring,  begins  to  pre- 
cipitate upon  the  glass;  the  liquids  re- 
maining above,  and  thus  preventing  air 
and  impurities  from  coming  into  con- 


The  two  photographs  here  are  of  the  same  building  taken  under  contrasting  conditions.  1  he  first 
picture  was  taken  through  a  window  glazed  with  common  window  glass.  It  is  an  extreme  example,  to 
be  sure,  but  of  a  sort  not  infrequently  seen.  The  second  view  shows  the  same  building  taken  through 
a  window  of  polished,  flawless  plate  glass.  An  observing  person  can  see  this  startling  contrast  any  day 
as  he  walks  along  a  residence  street.  At  intervals  a  front  window  will  be  seen  which  gives  a  twisted, 
distorted  reflection  of  the  houses  or  trees  on  the  opposite  side:  this  is  window  glass.  The  other  kind— 
the  window  that  gives  a  sharp  brilliant  reflection — is  plate  glass.  It  is  practically  impossible  to  obtain 
superior  reflecting  quality  from  window  glass.  It  can  only  be  had  from  surfaces  which  have  been  ground 
and  polished. 


WHY   THE   SKY   IS   BLUE 


253 


tact  with  the  silver.  Such  contact 
would  produce  oxidation.  After  the 
silver  •  is  precipitated  the  plate  is 
thoroughly  dried,  shellacked  and 
painted ;  after  which  it  is  ready  for 
commercial  use. 

Until  about  25  years  ago,  practically 
all  mirrors  were  silvered  with  mercury. 
There  have  been  two  reasons  for  dis- 
couraging the  use  of  mercury  for  sil- 
vering; one  being  its  injuriousness  to 
the  health  o.f  the  workmen.  In  some 
European  countries  stringent  laws  were 
enacted,  stipulating  that  men  should 
work  only  a  certain  number  of  hours. 

Other  hygienic  stipulations,  added  to 
the  fact  that  the  use  of  mercury  was 
already  very  expensive,  have  tended  to 
replace  that  process  by  the  use  of  nitrate 
of  silver. 

Why  Is  the  Sky  Blue? 

This  question  puzzled  every  one  who 
thought  of  it  for  a  long  time.  Even 
astronomers,  the  men  who  make  a  busi- 
ness of  studying  the  skies,  and  other 
learned  men,  puzzled  their  brains  about 
it  and  searched  for  the  answer  long 
ago,  until  finally,  as  always  happens 
when  a  lot  of  people  study  a  subject, 
Professor  John  Tyndall,  a  noted 
scientist  of  the  last  century,  discovered 
the  answer.  The  explanation  follows : 
All  the  light  we  have  is  sunlight,  which 
is  pure  white  light.  This  white  light 
is  made  up  of  rays  of  light  of  different 
colors.  These  rays  are  red,  orange, 
yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo  and  violet. 
It  takes  all  of  these  different  rays  of 
light  to  make  our  white  sunlight,  and 
when  you  separate  sunlight  into  its 
original  rays  you  always  produce  the 
rays  of  light  in  the  above  colors  and 
in  the  same  order.  This  is  only  true, 
however,  when  the  sunlight  is  passed 
through  an  object  which  does  not  ab- 
sorb any  of  its  rays.  This  is  the  ar- 
r.'uigcnicnt  of  the  different  colors  of 
lij^ht  found  in  the  rainbow.  The  rain- 
bow is  formed  by  sunlight  passing  into 
raindro])s  or  vapor  in  such  a  way  as 
to  divide  the  sunlight  into  the  different 
colored  rays  of  light.  When  the  rain- 
bow is   formed  none  of  the   rays  are 


absorbed  by  raindrops  or  vapor 
through  which  the  sunlight  passes. 
Some  of  these  rays  of  light  are  known 
as  short  rays  and  others  as  long  rays. 
But  when  sunlight  meets  other  things 
besides  those  which  make  a  pure  rain- 
bow, these  other  objects  have  the 
ability  to  absorb  some  of  the  rays  of 
colored  light,  and  they  throw  off  the 
remainder.  When  these  rays  have 
been  thrown  oft"  those  which  have  been 
absorbed  make  many  different  combi- 
nations, and  thus  are  produced  all  of 
the  different  colors  we  know,  the  vari- 
ous tints  and  shades  of  color,  according 
to  composition  and  size. 

Now,  then,  to  get  back  to  the  color 
of  the  sky,  which  is  blue  as  we  know. 
The  sky  or  air  which  surrounds  the 
earth  is  filled  with  countless  tiny  specks 
of  what  we  may  call  dust — particles  of 
solid  things  hanging  or  floating  in  the 
air.  These  specks  are  of  just  the  size 
and  quality  that  they  catch  and  absorb 
part  of  the  rays  of  light  which  form 
our  sunlight  and  throw  off  the  rest  of 
the  rays,  and  the  part  which  has  been 
absorbed  forms  the  combination  of 
color  which  makes  our  sky  so  beauti- 
fully blue.  Sometimes  you  notice,  of 
course,  that  the  sky  is  a  lighter  or 
darker  blue  than  at  other  times.  This 
difference  is  due  to  the  kind  and  con- 
dition of  tiny  specks  in  the  air  at  the 
time,  and  to  the  direction  or  angle  at 
which  the  sunlight  strikes  these  tiny 
particles.  This  fact  brings  up  a  ques- 
tion which  you  have  not  asked,  but 
which  would  come  naturally  as  the  re- 
sult of  your  first. 


What  Makes  the  Colors  of  the  Sunset? 

The  direction  of  the  sun's  rays  when 
they  meet  these  large  and  small  ])ar- 
ticles  in  the  air  has  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  the  combination  of  colors  that 
result  as  these  objects  absorb  part  of 
the  rays  and  throw  off  others.  The  sky 
is  the  most  beautiful  blue  when  the  sun 
is  high  in  the  sky.  lUit  when  the  sun 
is  setting  the  light  has  a  greater  dis- 
tance to  travel  through  the  belt  of  air 
which  surrounds  the  earth  thAn  when 
it    is   high  up   over  our   heads.      You 


254 


WHAT   MAKES  THE   COLORS    IN   THE    RAINBOW 


kix)\v  that  it  you  stick  a  pin  straight 
down  into  an  orange  it  won't  go  in  very 
far  before  it  is  clear  through  the  jKcl, 
but  if  you  stick  the  pin  into  an  orange 
along  the  edge  it  will  go  through  a 
great  deal  more  of  the  peel  than  the 
other  way.  That  is  the  way  it  is  with 
the  sunset  colors.  The  peel  of  the 
orange  is  a  good  representation  of  the 
belt  of  air  which  surrounds  the  earth. 
At  sunset  the  light  instead  of  coming 
straight  down  through  the  belt  of  air, 
thus  meeting  the  eye  through  the  short- 
est possible  amount  of  air.  strikes  the 
air  on  a  slant,  and,  therefore,  travels 
through  a  great  deal  more  air  and  closer 
to  the  earth  to  reach  it,  with  the  resuUs 
that  it  meets  a  great  many  more  of 
these  little  specks,  besides  all  the  smoke 
and  other  things  that  hang  in  the  air 
near  the  ground,  and  we  thus  get  many 
more  colors,  because  some  of  the  things 
in  the  air  absorb  some  of  the  rays  and 
others  absorb  very  different  rays  when 
the  light  comes  in  this  slanting  way, 
and  that  is  what  makes  the  different 
colors  in  the  sunset.  For  this  reason 
sunsets  are  often  richer  and  more  beau- 
tiful in  color  when  the  air  is  not  so 
pure,  but  has  much  dirt  and  other 
matter  floating  about  in  it. 

Are  There  Two  Sides  to  the  Rainbow? 

Xo,  there  is  only  one  side  to  the 
rainbow.  The  rainbow  is  made  by  re- 
flection of  the  rays  of  sunlight  through 
drops  of  water  in  the  air,  but  you  can 
never  see  a  rainbow  unless  you  are 
between  it  and  the  sun.  You  could 
r.ever  see  a  rainbow  if  you  were  look- 
ing at  the  sun,  and  so  if  you  are  look- 
ing at  a  rainbow  you  can  be  certain 
that  anyone  on  the  other  side  of  it  could 
not  see  it,  because  they  would  have  to 
b^  looking  right  at  the  sun.  The  rain- 
bow is  always  opposite  to  the  sun  and 
there  can  never  be  two  sides  to  it. 

Do  the  Ends  of  the  Rainbow  Rest  on 
Land? 

The  ends  of  the  rainbow  do  not  rest 
on  anything.  You  see,  the  rainbow  is 
only  the  reflection  of  the  sun's  rays 
thrown  back  to  us  by  the  inside  of  the 


back  of  the  raindroi)S,  which  are  still 
in  the  sky  after  the  rain.  Of  course, 
if  any  of  the  drops  of  water  touched 
the  ground  they  would  cease  to  be  rain- 
droj)s  and,  therefore,  could  not  reflect 
the  rays  of  the  sunlight.  So,  what  we 
think  of  as  the  ends  of  the  rainbow 
do  not  really  exist  at  all.  The  rainbow 
is  only  a  reflection  of  the  rays  of  sun- 
light from  countless  drops  of  water  in 
the  air,  which  the  sun's  rays  must  strike 
at  a  certain  angle  in  order  to  reflect 
back  the  light  so  we  can  see  it.  Where 
the  sun's  rays  do  not  strike  the  drops 
of  water  at  the  right  angle  no  light  is 
reflected,  and  there  is  the  end  of  the 
rainbow. 

What  Causes  the  Different  Colors  of  the 

Rainbow? 

The  colors  of  the  rainbow,  which  are 
always  the  same,  and  are  shown  in  this 
order — red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue 
and  violet — are  sunlight  broken  up  into 
its  original  colors.  It  takes  all  of  these 
colors  in  the  ])roportions  in  which  they 
are  mixed  in  the  rainbow  to  make  the 
pure  sunlight.  These  are  known  as  the 
prismatic  colors.  As  shown  in  another 
answer  to  one  of  your  puzzling  ques- 
tions, the  rainbow  is  caused  by  the  rays 
of  the  sun  jiassing  into  drops  of  water 
in  the  air  and  reflected  l)ack  to  us  with 
one  part  of  the  drop  of  water  acting 
on  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  break  up  the 
pure  sunlight  into  these  prismatic 
colors.  When  a  rainbow  appears  at  a 
time  when  there  is  a  great  deal  of  sun- 
light, you  will  generally  see  two  rain- 
bows. The  inner  rainbow  is  formed 
bv  the  rays  of  the  sun  that  enter  the 
upper  part  of  the  falling  raindrops, 
and  the  outer  rainbow  is  formed  by  the 
rays  that  enter  the  under  part  of  the 
raindrops.  In  the  inner  or  primary 
bow,  as  it  is  called,  the  colors  beginning 
at  the  outside  ring  of  color  are  red, 
orange,  yellow,  green,  blue  and  violet, 
and  being  exactly  reversed  in  the  outer 
or  secondary  bow.  The  seconflary  bow 
is  also  fainter.  You  may  sometimes 
see  smaller  rainbows,  even  if  it  has  not 
been  raining,  when  looking  at  a  foun- 
tain or  waterfall.  These  are  caused  in 
exactly  the  same  way. 


What  Makes  the  Hills  Look  Blue  Some- 
times ? 

This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  when  the 
hills  look  blue  you  are  looking  at  them 
at  a  distance,  and  there  is  a  long 
stretch  of  air  between  you  and  the  hills. 
This  air  is  filled  with  countless  par- 
ticles of  dust  and  other  things,  and  what 
you  see  is  not  really  blue  hills,  but  the 
reflection  of  the  sun's  rays  from  the 
little  particles  in  the  air  striking  your 
eye.  The  color  is  due  to  the  angle  at 
which  the  light  from  the  sun  strikes 
these  particles,  and  is  reflected  back  to 
your  eye  and  partially  due  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  particles  in  the  air. 


Do  the  Stars  Really  Shoot  Down? 

The  answer  is  "No."  We  have  come 
to  use  the  expression  "shooting  stars" 
commonly,  but  we  should  probably  be 
more  correct  if  we  said  "shooting 
rocks,"  for  the  things  we  refer  to  com- 
monly as  "shooting  stars"  are  more 
like  rocks  than  anything  else.  If  any 
of  the  real  stars  were  to  fall  into  the 
air  surrounding  the  earth  we  should 
all  be  burned  up  by  the  great  heat  de- 
veloped long  before  it  actually  hit  the 
earth,  which  it  would  undoubtedly 
destro3^ 

The  things  that  fall  and  leave  a 
streak  of  light  are  really  only  pebbles, 
stones,  rocks  or  pieces  of  iron  and  other 
substances  that  fall  from  some  place 
iiito  the  earth's  air  belt.  When  they 
strike  the  air  at  the  speed  at  which 
they  are  falling  the  friction  of  the  air 
makes  a  heat  that  causes  them  to  be- 
come luminous,  and  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  them  is  burned  up  before  they 
get  very  near  the  earth.  We  call  them 
meteorites.  Sometimes,  though  rarely, 
one  will  manage  to  strike  the  earth, 
coming  at  such  great  speed  and  being 
so  large  that  the  air  has  not  been  able 
to  burn  it  u])  comjjletely,  and  it  will 
strike  the  earth  and  sink  deep  down  into 
the  soil.  In  most  museums  can  be  seen 
such  meteorites  that  have  been  dug  up 
after  striking  the  earth.  These  are 
constantly  falling  itUo  the  air  surround- 


ing the  earth,  but  in  the  day-time  their 
light  is  not  strong  enough  to  be  seen 
while  the  sun  is  shining. 

Will  the  Sky  Ever  Fall  Down? 

No,  the  sky  can  never  fall  down,  be- 
cause it  is  not  made  of  the  kind  of 
things  that  fall.  We  have  become  used 
to  thinking  of  it  as  the  roof  of  the 
earth,  a  great  dome-shaped  roof,  be- 
cause in  our  little  way  of  looking  at 
things  we  compared  the  earth  and  what 
is  above  it  with  the  houses  in  which 
we  live.  The  sky  is  just  space  in  which 
the  heavenly  bodies  revolve  in  their 
orbits.  We  cannot  really  ever  see  sky. 
We  see  only  the  sun's  light  reflected 
by  the  air  belt  which  surrounds  the 
earth.  In  this  air  belt  are  the  clouds 
which  do  come  closer  to  the  land  at 
times  than  at  others,  and  this  is  apt 
to  aid  in  giving  us  an  incorrect  im- 
pression of  this. 

What  Is  the  Milky  Way? 

The  "Galaxy,"  or  "Milky  Way,"  as 
it  is  popularly  called,  is  a  luminous 
circle  extending  completely  around  the 
heavens.  It  is  produced  by  myriads  of 
stars,  as  can  be  seen  when  you  look  at 
it  through  a  telescope.  It  divides  into 
tv.o  great  branches  at  one  point,  which 
travel  for  some  distance  separately  and 
then  reunite.  It  has  also  several 
branches.  At  one  point  it  spreads  out 
very  widely  into  a  fanlike  shape. 

Why  Do  They  Call  It  the  Milky  Way? 

The  stars  in  the  group  are  so  numer- 
ous that  they  present  to  the  naked  eye 
a  whiteness  like  a  stream  of  milk.  To 
produce  this  efifect  there  are  not  hun- 
dreds of  stars,  nor  thousands  of  them, 
but  actually  millions  of  them. 

When  you  stoj)  to  tliink  that  each  one 
of  these  stars  in  tlie  Milky  Way  is  a 
sun  like  our  own — some  of  them 
smaller,  of  course,  but  many  of  them 
much  larger — you  begin  to  realize  how 
impossible  it  is  for  man  to  form  any 
real  idea  of  the  magnitude  and  wonders 
of  the  earth.  Here  in  the  Milky  Way 
arc   so   many   suns   like   our   own    sun 


> 


that  they  together  as  we  look  at  them 
form  the  j:)articles  of  a  path  which 
makes  the  circle  of  the  heavens,  and 
yet  are  so  far  away  that  to  the  naked 
eye  each  of  them  looks  to  us  like  only 
one  of  countless  drops  of  milk  in  a 
very  large  stream  of  milk  that  goes 
around  the  whole  sky. 

Why  Don't  the  Stars  Shine  in  the  Day- 
time? 

The  stars  do  shine  in  the  day-time. 
If  you  will  go  down  into  a  deep  well 
or  the  open  shaft  of  a  deep  mine  and 
look  up  at  the  sky,  of  which  you  can 
see  a  circular  patch  at  the  top  of  the 
well,  you  will  be  able  to  see  the  stars  in 
the  day-time.  The  moon  also  shines  in 
the  day-time,  on  some  part  of  the  earth. 
At  certain  times  during  the  month  you 
can  notice  that  the  moon  rises  before 
the  sun  sets,  and  sometimes  in  the 
morning  you  can  still  see  the  moon  in 
the  sky  after  the  sun  is  up.  Usually 
you  cannot  see  either  the  moon  or  the 
stars  in  the  day-time,  because  the  light 
from  the  sun  is  so  bright  and  strong 
that  the  light  of  the  stars  and  moon 
are  lost  in  the  brightness  of  the  sun's 
rays.  When  the  moon  is  visible  before 
the  sun  sets  or  after  the  sun  has  risen 
it  is  because  the  light  of  the  sun  is  not 
so  bright  and  strong  at  the  beginning 
or  close  of  daylight.  If  you  are  for- 
tunate enough  some  time  to  witness  a 
total  eclipse  of  the  sun  you  will  be  able 
to  see  the  stars  in  day-time  without  hav- 
ing to  go  down  into  a  deep  well  or 
mine  shaft. 

How  Far  Does  Space  Reach? 

Space  surrounds  all  earths,  planets, 
suns,  and  extends  for  an  infinite  dis- 
tance beyond  each  of  them  in  all  di- 
rections. It  is  impossible  to  measure 
in  terms  of  human  knowledge  how  far 
space  extends.  It  is  one  of  the  things 
beyond  the  comprehension  of  the 
human  mind,  and  for  that  reason  man 
can  never  know  in  miles  or  the  number 
of  millions  of  miles  how  far  it  extends. 
Man  has  been  able  to  measure  the  dis- 
tance from  the  earth  of  some  of  the 
stars,  and  some  of  the  nearest  of  them 


are  millions  of  miles  from  the  earth. 
Most  of  them  are  hundreds  and  even 
thousands  of  million  miles  away,  and 
when  we  stop  to  tiiink  that  space  ex- 
tends at  least  as  far  on  the  other  sides 
of  the  stars  as  it  does  on  this  side,  and 
even  beyond  that,  we  can  readily  under- 
stand that  it  is  not  only  imi)()ssiblc  to 
measure  space,  but  also  im])ossible  to 
give  in  words  any  concej^tion  of  what 
its  limits  might  be. 

There  is  one  word — infinite — which 
we  are  forced  to  use  in  speaking  of  the 
extent  of  space.  Infinite  means  "with- 
out end,"  unbounded,  and  so  man  has 
come  to  use  the  word  "infinite"  in  de- 
scribing the  extent  of  space,  and  that 
is  as  near  as  any  one  can  describe  it. 

What  Does  Horse  Power  Mean? 

The  term  "horse  power"  is  used  in 
describing  the  amount  of  power  pro- 
duced by  an  engine  or  motor.  When 
man  made  the  first  engines  he  needed 
some  term  to  use  in  describing  the 
amount  of  power  his  engine  could  de- 
velop. Up  to  that  time  man  had  used 
the  horse  for  turning  the  wheels  of 
his  machinery  and  the  horse  to  him 
naturally  represented  the  most  power- 
ful animal  working  for  man.  When 
engines  came  into  use  they  replaced 
the  horses  because  they  were  capable 
of  developing  many  times  the  power 
of  the  horse.  In  finding  an  expression 
which  would  accurately  convey  to  the 
mind  of  another  the  power  of  a  par- 
ticular engine,  it  was  natural  to  say 
that  this  engine  would  do  the  work  of 
five,  ten  or  more  horses,  and  as  this 
described  it  accurately  and  in  a  way 
that  was  entirely  clear,  it  became  cus- 
tomary to  describe  the  power  of  an 
engine  as  so  many  times  the  power 
of  one  horse. 

To-day  we  still  cling  to  the  term 
"horse  power"  in  describing  the 
strength  of  the  engine,  although  the 
horse-power  unit  used  to-day  is  greater 
than  the  power  of  an  average  horse. 
To  speak  of  an  engine  of  one  horse 
power  to-day  means  an  engine  that  has 
the  power  to  lift  .^0,000  pounds  one 
foot  in  one  minute. 


WHERE  OUR  COAL  COMES   FROM 


257 


A    COAL   BREAKER. 

Coal  is  brought  in  mine  cars  from  several  mine  shafts  and  slopes,  dumped  onto  a  conveyor  that  runs  on  the  inclined 
framework  shown  at  the  right  of  the  picture.  At  the  top  it  is  broken  in  rolls,  sorted  and  sized  as  it  slides  through  the 
different  screens,  pickers,  etc.,  and  is  finally  delivered  into  railroad  cars. 

The  Story  in  a  Lump  of  Goal 


How  Did  the  Coal  Get  Into  the  Coal 

Mines? 

The  heavy  black  mineral  called  coal, 
which  we  burn  in  our  stoves  and  fur- 
naces, and  use  to  heat  the  boilers  of 
our  engines  was  formed  from  trees  and 
plants  of  various  sorts.  Most  of  the 
coal  wais-  formed  thousands  of  years 
ago  at  a  time  when  the  atmosphere  that 
envelopes  the  earth  contained  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  carbonic  acid  gas 
than  it  does  now,  and  the  climate  of 
all  regions  of  the  earth  was  much 
warmer  than  it  now  is.  This  period 
was  known  as  the  carboniferous  age, 
that  is,  the  coal-making  age,  and  its  at- 
mospheric conditions,  favored  the 
growth  of  plants,  so  that  the  earth  was 
covered  with  great  forests,  of  trees, 
giant  ferns,  and  other  plants,  many  of 


which  are  no  longer  found  on  the  earth. 
In  the  warm,  moist,  and  carbon-laden 
atmosphere  of  that  period  the  growth 
of  all  kinds  O'f  plants  was  rapid  and 
luxuriant,  and  as  fast  as  old  trees  fell 
and  partially  decayed,  others  grew  up 
in  their  places.  In  this  way,  thick 
layers  of  vegetable  matter  were  formed 
over  the  soil  in  which  the  plants  grew. 
In  many  places,  where  these  beds  were 
formed,  the  surface  of  the  earth  be- 
came depressed  and  the  water  of  the 
sea  flowed  over  the  beds  of  veg;etable 
matter. 

Sediment  of  various  kinds  was  de- 
posited over  the  vegetable  matter,  and 
in  the  course  of  centuries  the  sedi- 
ment was  transfonned  into  rock. 

After  the  formation  of  the  covering 
of  sediment,  the  decay  of  the  vegetable 
matter  was  checked,  but  a  slow  change 


258 


MINE  WORKERS  THAT  NEVER  SEE   DAYLIGHT 


Underground  stable  con- 
structed of  concrete  and  iron, 
with  natural  rock  roof  to  avoid 
danger  of  fire.  Mules  are 
only  taken  to  surface  when 
mines  are  idle. 


of  another  kind  was  brought  about  by 
the  pressure  of  the  sedimentary  deposits 
and  the  heat  to  which  the  plant  re- 
mains were  subjected.  The  hydrogen 
and  oxygen  which  constituted  the 
greater  part  of  the  plant  substance  was 
driven  off  and  the  carbon  left  behind. 
This  change  took  place  very  gradually, 
through  periods  so  long  that  we  can 
only  'guess  at  their  duration,  but  we 
know  that  many  beds  of  coal  were 
formed  from  layers  of  vegetable  matter 
that  were  covered  up  many  thousand 
years  ago. 

The  coal  first  formed  and  submitted 
longest  to  pressure  is  known  as  hard 
coal,  or  anthracite.     It  is  pure  black,  or 


has  a  bluish  metallic  luster.  Its  spe- 
cific gravity  is  1.46;  which  is  about  the 
same  as  that  of  hard  wood.  Anthra- 
cite contains  from  90  to  94  per  cent, 
of  carbon,  the  remainder  beinig  com- 
posed of  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  ash. 

Hard  coal  may  be  called  the  ideal 
fuel  and  is  especially  adapted  to  do- 
mestic heating  purposes.  It  burns 
without  smoke  and  produces  great  heat. 
There  is  no  soot  deposit  upon  the  walls 
of  chimneys,  and  in  good  stoves  or 
furnaces  the  small  amount  of  gas  given 
off  by  it  is  consumed.  Anthracite  is 
the  least  abundant  of  all  the  varieties 
of  coal  and  is  much  more  costly  than 
the  other  varieties.     For  this  reason  it 


The  Mules  and  their 
drivers. — An  important 
part  of  the  haulage  sys- 
tem. Mules  are  kept  in 
stables  on  surface  at 
this  mine  and  driven  in 
every  day  through  slope 
or  drift. 


4 


HOW  THE  SLATE   PICKERS  WORK 


259 


Boy  slate  pick- 
ers. Coal  slides 
down  the  chutes. 
Boys  pick  out  the 
slate  and  rock 
and  throw  into 
chute  alongside. 


is  not  much  used  in  manufacturing. 
The  coal  formed  later  is  very  dif- 
ferent in  composition  and  is  called  bi- 
tuminous or  soft  coal.  Its  name  is  de- 
rived from  the  fact  that  it  contains  a 
soft   substance   called    bitumen,    which 


oozes  out  of  the  coal  when  heat  is  ap- 
plied to  it.  Soft  coal  contains  from 
75  to  85  per  cent,  of  carbon,  some 
traces  of  sulphur,  and  a  larger  per- 
centage of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  than 
anthracite.     When  soft  coal  is  heated 


Spiral  slate  pickers  do 
work  of  many  boys.  Coal 
and  rock  start  together  at 
the  top  in  the  small  inner 
spiral.  The  coal  being 
lighter  slides  faster,  and  in 
going  around  is  carried  over 
the  edge  into  the  outer 
spiral,  while  the  rock  con- 
tinues in  the  bottom. 


260 


HOW   A   COAL   MINE    LOOKS    INSIDE 


Shaft  gate.  One  of  the 
two  cages  in  the  shaft  has 
just  brought  the  men  to  the 
surface;  the  other  is  at  the 
bottom.  Safety  gate  rest- 
ing on  top  of  cage  covers 
top  of  shaft  when  cage  is 
down,  as  shown  at  right. 


Section  showing  Anthracite 
Seams.  Coal  is  shown  black ; 
rock  and  dirt  lighter  ;  shaft 
tunnels  and  workings,  white. 
Upper  part  of  "  Mammoth  " 
seam  is  stripped  and  quar- 
ried. 


Lignite  mine  in  Texas.     Loaded  mine  cars  ready  to  go  to  surface. 


Undercutting  with 
pick.  The  man  lying 
on  his  side  cuts  under 
the  coal.  A  light  charge 
of  powder  exploded  in  a 
drill  hole  near  the  roof 
breaks  the  coal  down  in 
large  pieces. 


in  a  closed  vessel  or  retort,  the  hydro- 
gen and  oxygen,  in  combination  with 
some  carbon,  are  driven  off. 

Soft  coal  is  black,  and  upon  smooth 
surfaces  it  is  glossy.  It  lacks  the  bluish 
luster  sometimes  seen  in  hard  coal  and 
is  much  softer  and  more  easily  broken. 
When  handled  it  blackens  the  hands 
more  than  hard  coal  does.  In  this  kind 
of  coal  are  frequently  seen  the  outlines 
of  leaves  and  stems  of  plants  that  en- 


ter into  its  formation.  Occasionally, 
trunks  of  trees  with  roots  extending 
down  into  the  clay  below  the  bed  of 
coal  have  been  found. 

Soft  coal  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
1.27.  It  burns  with  a  yellow  flame 
which  is  larger  than  the  flame  from 
hard  coal,  but  it  does  not  emit  so  high 
a  degree  of  heat.  Combustion,  gen- 
erally imperfect,  gives  rise  to  offensive 
gases  and  to  black  smoke  that  concen- 


Unrlcrcutting  in  seam. 
A  compressed  air  driven 
machine  undercuts  deeper 
and  faster  than  the  man 
with  a  pick. 


^^M^^^^'m^: 

1-4 

1^ 

■^  ^• 

11- 

^^  ■: 

■  iw '  <-■; 

^^^^Pf    fi^^^^^KP 

J  m  ■ 

1 

B&' 

K^-,Ei 

w^- 

■^ 

OHBB 

262 


THE    DANGERS   TO   THE    MINERS 


trates  in  the  air  and  falls  to  the  ground 
as  soot,  which  blackens  buildings,  and. 
in  winter,  noticeably  discolors  the 
snow. 

The  formation  of  lig-nite  has  been 
observed  in  the  timbers  of  some  old 
mines  in  Europe.  In  some  of  these 
mines  wooden  pillars  have  been  sup- 
porting: the  rocks  above  for  four  hun- 
dred years  or  ilonger,  and  in  that  time 
the  pressure  of  the  rocks  and  other  in- 
fluences acting  upon  the  wood  of  the 
pillars  have  caused  it  to  become  trans- 
formed into  a  brown  substance  re- 
sanbling  lignite.  This  fact  tends  to 
confirm  the  theory  of  coal  formation 
stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  article. 
The  proportion  of  carbon  in  lignite  is 
never  above  70  per  cent.,  and  the  ash 
indicates  the  presence  of  considerable 
earthy  matter.  It  is  chiefly  used  in 
those  forms  of  manufacture  where  a 
hot  fire  is  not  required.  In  Europe  it 
is  used,  to  some  extent,  in  heating  the 
houses  of  the  poorer  classes. 

Peat  is  regarded  as  the  latest  of  the 
coal  formations.  In  it,  the  change  in 
the  vegetable  matter  has  not  extended 
beyond  merely  covering  it,  and  subject- 
ing it  to  slight  pressure. 

Peat  is  formed  in  marshy  soils  where 
there  is  a  considerable  growth  of 
plants  that  are  constantly  undergoing 
partial  decay  and  becoming  covered  by 
water.  It  consists  of  the  roots  and 
stems  of  the  plants  matted  together  and 
mingled  with  some  earthy  material. 
When  freshly  dug  out  of  the  bog  or 
marsh  in  which  it  was  formed  there 
is  always  a  quantity  of  water  in  it,  the 
amount  being  greatest  in  the  peat 
found  nearest  the  surface  and  least  in 
that  at  the  bottom  of  the  bed,  where  the 
peat  is  not  very  different  in  appearance 
from  lignite. 

Peat  is  used  for  fuel  where  wood  is 
scarce  and  coal  is  high  in  price.  Re- 
cent experiments  in  saturating  peat 
with  petroleum,  have  shown  that  in  this 
way  a  form  of  fuel  may  be  produced 
for  which  considerable  value  is  claimed. 
Its  manufacture  is  confined  to  Southern 
Rui;sia.  "where  peat  is  plentiful  and 
petroleum  is  cheap. 


Why  Does  Firedamp  Explode  in  a  Safety 
Lamp  Without  Producing  an  Explo- 
sion of  the  Gas  With  Which  the 
Lamp  Is  Surrounded? 

Tlie  i)assing  of  the  flame  from  the 
lamp  to  the  outside  air  is  prevented  by 
the  gauze.  This  splits  the  burning  gas 
into  little  streamlets  (784  to  each 
square  inch  of  gauze),  which  are  cooled 
below  the  point  of  ignition,  that  is,  are 
extinguished  by  coming  in  contact  with 
the  metal  of  the  gauze,  so  that  the 
flame  does  not  pass  outside  the  lamj). 
In  some  cases  the  explosion  may  be 
so  great  as  to  force  the  flame  through 
the  gauze  and  thus  ignite  the  gas  out- 
side. 

Are  There  Any  Conditions  Under  Which 
it  Would  Not  Be  Safe  to  Use  a  Safety 
Lamp? 

The  underground  conditions  aflfect- 
ing  the  safety  of  the  lamp  are  exposure 
in  air-currents  of  high  velocity  by  rea- 
son of  which  the  flame  may  be  blown 
through  or  against  the  gauze,  or  ex- 
posure for  too  great  a  time  to  mixtures 
of  air  and  gas  which  will  burn  w'ithin 
the  lamp  and  thus  heat  the  gauze.  The 
dangerous  velocity  of  air-currents  be- 
gins at  about  500  feet  a  minute,  but 
varies  with  the  type  of  lamp,  some 
being  much  less  sensitive  to  air-cur- 
rents of  high  velocity  than  others. 
Other  conditions  under  which  the  lamp 
is  not  safe  concern  the  lamp  itself  or 
the  one  using  it.  The  lamp  is  dan- 
gerous in  the  hands  of  inexperienced 
persons  or  when  the  gauze  is  dirty  or 
broken.  If  the  gauze  is  dirty,  that 
portion  absorbs  the  heat  and  may  be- 
come hot  enough  to  ignite  the  outside 
gas ;  naturally  any  holes  in  the  gauze 
will  pass  the  flame. 

The  safety  lamp  when  left  too  long 
in  air  containing  much  explosive  gas 
may  cause  an  explosion,  and  it  is  ex- 
tinguished by  certain  unbreathable 
gases.  The  electric  lamp  burns  safely 
regardless  of  the  atmosphere,  but  gives 
no  warning  of  poisonous  or  explosive 
gases.  It  is  often  used  by  rescue  men 
wearing  oxy^gen  helmets  to  enter  mines 


THE   LAMP  WHICH   SAVES   MANY   LIVES 


263 


full    of   poisonous    gases    after    explo- 
sions. 

The  safety  lamp  is  dangerous  when 
there  is  a  hole  in  the  gauze  that  will 
permit  the  passage  of  flame  to  the  out- 
side, or  when  the  gauze  is  dirty,  so  that 
any  particular  spot  may  be  overheated, 
or  when  the  velocity  of  the  air  is  so 
great  that  the  flame  is  blown  through 
the  gauze,  or  (generally)  when  in  the 
hands  of  an  inexperienced  person. 
The  unbonneted  Davy  lamp  is  not  safe 
where  the  velocity  of  the  air  exceeds 
360  feet  per  minute.  The  velocity 
with  w^hich  the  air  strikes  a  lamp  car- 
ried against  it  is  increased  by  the 
amount  equal  to  the  rate  at  which  the 
fireboss  travels.  If  he  walks  at  the 
rate  of,  say,  4  miles  an  hour  or  352 
feet  a  minute  (on  the  gangways  he  will 
usually  have  to  move  faster  than  this 
to  make  his  rounds  on  time)  he  will 
create  by  his  own  motion  (and  in  still 
air)  a  velocity  practically  the  same  as 
that  at  which  the  unbonneted  Davy  is 
considered  unsafe. 


The  safety  lamp.  The  sheet  iron  bonnet  or 
covering  of  the  upper  part  protects  the  gauze 
within  from  strong  currents  of  air,  while  the 
glass  permits  the  light  to  be  diflused.  The 
above  is  a  modem  lamp  similar  to  a  bonnetted 
Clanny  lamp. 

History  of  the  Safety  Lamp. 

The  safety  :lamp.  the  miner's  faitiiful 
and  indispensable  companion  at  his  dan- 
gerous work,  has  been,  heretofore,  con- 
sidered as  the  invention  of  the  famous 
ICnglish     'scientist,     Humphrey     Davy, 


though  the  name  of  George  Stephen- 
son, of  locomotive  fame,  has  also  been 
mentioned  in  this  connection.  Both 
came  out  with  their  inventions  about 
the  same  time,  but  neither  of  them  is 


Open  oil  lamp  commonly  worn  on  hat.    Wick 
is  inverted  in  spout. 

the  real  inventor  of  the  safety  lamp  ;  for 
there  was,  as  proven  by  Wilhelm  Nie- 
man,  a  safety  lamp  in  existence  two 
years  before  Davy's  invention  became 
known.  It  was  not  inferior  to  the 
latter,  but  rather  surpassed  it  in  illu- 
minating power.  Previous  to  this,  all 
the  precaution  employed  for  the  pre- 
vention of  the  threatening  dangers  of 
firedamp  had  been  quite  incomplete. 
One  tried  to  thoroughly  ventilate  the 
mines  by  fastening  a  burning  torch  to 
a  large  pole,  which  was  pushed  ahead 
and  exploded  the  gases.  This  was  ex- 
tremely dangerous  work  which,  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  was  generally  done  by  a 
criminal,  in  order  that  he  might  atone 
for  his  crimes,  or  by  a  penitent  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind.       The  attempt  to 


Acetylene  or  carbide  lamp  for  caj)  or  hand. 

subslituc  for  the  open  light  pho-sphores- 
cent  su1)stanccs,  encased  in  glass,  was 
not  much  of  a  success.  An  improve- 
ment was  the  so-called  steel  mill,  in- 
vented about  1750  by  Carlyle  S|)C(l(ling. 


264 


THE   MAN   WHO    INVENTED  THE  SAFETY   LAMP 


manager  of  a  mine.  This  steel  mill 
consisted  of  a  steel  wheel  which  was 
put  into  rapid  motion  by  means  of  a 
crank.  By  pressing  a  firestone  against 
the  fast  revolving  wheel,  an  incessant 
shower  of  sparks  was  produced  giving 
a  fairly  good  and  absolutely  safe  il- 
lumination. However,  the  running  ex- 
penses of  his  apparatus,  which  neces- 
sitated the  continual  services  of  one 
man,  were  very  high ;  for  instance,  the 
expenditure   for   light   in   a  coal  mine 


ELECTRIC  CAP  LAMP  AND  BATTERY. 

The  safety  lamp  when  left  too  long  in  air 
containing  much  explosive  gas  may  cause  an 
explosion,  and  it  is  extinguished  by  certain  un- 
breathable  gases.  The  electric  lamp  burns 
safely  regardless  of  the  atmosphere,  but  gives  no 
warning  of  poisonous  or  explosive  gases.  It  is 
often  used  by  rescue  men  wearing  oxygen  hel- 
mets to  enter  mines  full  of  poisonous  gases  after 
explosions. 

near  Newcastle  in  the  year  1816 
amounted  to  about  $200  per  week. 
Nevertheless,  the  steel  mill  was  very 
much  appreciated  and  in  use  for  a 
long  time,  only  to  be  slowly  supplanted 
by  the  safety  lamp. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 


century  the  existing  coal  mines  were 
worked  to  the  limit  and  the  catastro- 
phies,  caused  by  firedamp,  increased  in 
an  alarming  manner.  In  fact  the  dis- 
tress was  so  great  that  in  1812  a  society 
for  the  prevention  of  mine  disasters 
was  formed  at  Sutherland,  and  the 
origin  of  the  safety  lamp  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  efforts  and  labors  of  this 
organization.  Dr.  William  R  e  i  d 
Clanny,  a  retired  ship's  surgeon,  was 
probably  the  first  to  undertake  the  task 
(in  the  year  1808),  which  he  success- 
fully finished  with  energy  and  skill. 
He  concentrated  his  efforts  at  first  on 
the  se])aration  of  the  flames  from  the 
surrounding  atmosphere,  but  he  did  not 
succeed  till  the  latter  p^rt  of  1812, 
when  he  constructed  a  lamp  that 
seemed  to  meet  all  requirements.  The 
report  of  this  invention  was  submitted 
to  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  May 
20,  1813.  and  was  printed  in  the  min- 
utes of  that  academy.  The  casing  of 
this  original  safety  lamp  was  closed  at 
the  top  and  bottom,  by  two  open  water 
tanks ;  the  air  was  pumped  in  by  means 
of  bellows  and,  passing  in  and  out,  had 
to  go  through  both  these  resevoirs 
which  acted  as  valves,  so  to  speak. 
The  lamp  proved  to  be  absolutely  safe 
and  was  successfully  introduced  by  the 
management  of  Herrinigton  Mill  pit 
mine.  The  clumsy  parts  of  this  appa- 
ratus were  eliminated  by  its  inventor  by 
various  improvements.  The  so-called 
steajTi  safety  lamp  was  completed  in 
December,  1815,  and  installed  in  sev- 
eral mines.  In  the  meanwhile,  two 
competitors  made  their  appearance. 
George  Stephenson  had  finished  his 
lamp  October  21,  1815.  and  Davy  ]mb- 
lished  his  first  experiments  November 
9,  1815,  in  the  Transactions  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London.  Clanny's 
lamp,  nevertheless,  stood  the  test  in 
the  face  of  this  competition,  through  its 
much  superior  illuminating  power,  and 
more  particularly  as  it  still  continued  to 
burn  when  the  Davy  and  Stephenson 
lamps  had  gone  out.  To  Clanny,  there- 
fore, belongs  the  distinction,  in  the  his- 
torv  of  invention,  of  having  constructed 
the  first  reliable  safety  lamp. 


WHAT   IS  THE   MOST  VALUABLE  METAL? 


265 


What  Is  a  Metal? 

The  oldest  known  metals  in  the 
world  are  gold  and  silver,  copper,  iron, 
tin  and  lead.  They  are  to-day  still  the 
most  useful  and  widely-used  metals. 
Some  of  the  properties  by  which  we 
distinguish  metals  are  the  following: 
They  are  solid  and  not  transparent ; 
they  have  luster  and  are  heavy.  Mer- 
cury is  an  exception  to  the  rule ;  it  is 
a  liquid,  though  yet  a  metal,  and  there 
is  another,  solium,  which  is  solid, 
though  very  light. 

What  Is  the  Most  Valuable  Metal? 

If  you  were  guessing  you  would  nat- 
urally say  that  gold  is,  of  course,  the 
most  valuable  of  the  metals.  But 
you  would  be  wrong.  The  proper 
answer  to  this  is  iron.  We  do  not 
mean  the  pound  for  pound  value, 
for  you  could  get  much  more  for  a 
pound  of  gold  than  for  a  pound  of  iron. 
We  mean  in  useful  value — iron  is  in 
that  sense  the  most  valuable  metal 
known  to  man.  This  is  true  because 
iron  is  of  such  great  service  to  man 
in  so  many  ways,  and  it  is  very  for- 
tunate that  there  is  such  a  great 
amount  of  it  available  for  man's  pur- 
poses. Iron  is  not  generally  found  in 
a  pure  state  in  the  mines.  It  is  gener- 
ally found  compounded  with  carbon 
and  other  substances,  and  we  obtain 
pure  iron  by  burning  these  other  sub- 
stances  out  of   the  compound. 

Iron  is  put  upon  the  market  in  three 
forms,  which  differ  very  much  in  their 
properties.  First,  there  is  cast-iron. 
Iron  in  this  form  is  hard,  easily  fusible 
and  quite  brittle,  as  you  will  know  if 
you  ever  broke  a  lid  on  the  kitchen 
range.  In  the  form  of  cast-iron  it 
cannot  be  forged  or  welded. 

Next  comes  wrought-iron,  which  is 
fjuite  soft,  can  be  hammered  out  flat  or 
drawn  out  in  the  form  of  a  wire  and 
can  be  welded,  but  fusible  only  at  a 
high  temi)crature.  Third  comes  steel, 
the  most  wonderful  thing  we  produce 
with  iron.  It  is  also  mallealjle,  which 
rr.eans  that  it  is  caj^ablc  of  being  ham- 
mered out  flat  and  can  easily  be  welded, 
and  this  is  the  great  property  of  steel 


— it  acquires  when  tempered  a  very 
high  degree  of  hardness,  so  that  a 
sharp  edge  can  be  put  on  it,  and  when 
in  that  shape  it  will  easily  cut  wrought- 
iron.  Ordinarily  we  make  wrought- 
iron  and  steel  from  iron  that  has  been 
changed  from  its  original  state  to  cast- 
iron. 

The  term  cast-iron  is  generally  given 
to  iron  which  has  been  melted  and  cast 
in  any  form  desired  for  use.  Stoves 
are  made  in  this  way.  The  iron  is 
melted  and  then  poured  into  a  mold ; 
while  the  product  out  of  which 
wrought-iron  and  steel  are  made  is 
technically  cast-iron,  the  term  pig-iron 
is  used  in  speaking  of  iron  which  is 
cast  for  this  purpose. 

The  process  by  which  pig-iron  is 
changed  into  wrought-iron  is  called 
puddling.  The  object  of  puddling, 
\vhich  is  done  in  what  is  called  a  re- 
verbratory  furnace  (which  is  a  furnace 
that  reflects  or  drives  back  the  flame 
C'r  heat)  is  to  remove  the  carbon  which 
is  in  the  pig-iron.  This  is  done  partly 
by  the  action  of  the  oxygen  of  the  air 
at  high  temperature  and  partly  by  the 
action  of  the  cinder  formed  by  the 
burning  furnace.  When  this  has  been 
done  the  iron  is  made  into  balls  of  a 
size  convenient  for  handling.  These 
are  "shingled"  by  squeezing  or  ham- 
mering and  passed  between  rolls  by 
which  the  iron  is  made  to  assume  any 
desired  form. 

Now  we  come  to  steel,  the  most 
wonderful  product  or  form  in  which 
we  take  advantage  of  the  value  of  iron. 
Steel  was  formerly  made  from 
v/rought-iron,  so  that  you  first  had  to 
get  cast-iron,  from  which  you  made 
wrought-iron,  and  eventually  got  steel 
by  changing  the  wrought-iron.  Now 
we  make  steel  direct  from  ])ig-iron. 
This  is  known  as  the  Resscmer  process. 

The  most  noticeable  feature  in  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  difi"ercnt 
grades  of  iron  and  steel  is  found  in  the 
percentages  of  carbon  they  contain. 
Fig-iron  contains  the  most  carbon  ;  steel 
the  next  lowest,  and  wrought-iron  the 
least. 

Iron  has  been  known  (o  nii'ti  from 
early  historical  times.    'I  he  smelting  of 


iron  ores  is  not  any  indication  of  ad- 
vanced civilization  either.  Savage 
tribes  in  many  parts  of  the  world  prac- 
ticed the  art  of  smelting,  even  before 
they  could  have  learned  it  from  people 
who   had   become  civilized. 

Why  Is  Gold  Called  Precious? 

Gold  is  called  one  of  the  precious 
metals  because  of  its  beautiful  color, 
its  luster,  and  the  fact  that  it  does  not 
rust  or  tarnish  when  exposed  to  the 
air.  It  is  the  most  ductile  (can  be 
stretched  out  into  the  thinnest  wire), 
and  is  also  the  most  malleable  (can  be 
hammered  out  into  the  thinnest  sheet). 
It  can  be  hammered  into  leaves  so  thin 
that  light  will  pass  through  them.  Pure 
gold  is  so  soft  that  it  cannot  be  used 
in  that  form  in  making  gold  coins  or 
ill  making  jewelry.  Other  substances, 
generally  copper,  are  added  to  it  to 
make  the  gold  coins  and  jewelry  hard. 
Sometimes  silver  is  also  added  to  the 
gold  with  copper.  The  gold  coins  of 
the  United  States  are  made  of  nine 
parts  of  gold  to  one  of  copper.  The 
coins  of  France  are  the  same,  while 
the  coins  of  England  are  made  of 
eleven  parts  of  gold  to  one  of  copper. 
The  gold  used  for  jewels  and  watch- 
cases  varies  from  eight  or  nine  to 
eighteen  carats  fine. 

Another  reason  why  gold  is  called 
a  precious  metal  is  that  it  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  dissolve  it.  None  of  the  acids 
alone  will  dissolve  gold,  and  only  two 
of  them  when  mixed  together  w'ill  do 
so.  These  are  nitric  acid  and  hydro- 
chloric acid.  When  these  two  acids 
are  mixed  and  gold  put  into  the  mix- 
ti-re  the  gold  will  disappear. 

What  Do  We  Mean  By  18-Carat  Fine? 

We  often  hear  people  in  speaking 
of  their  watches  say,  "It  is  an  i8-carat 
case."  Others  speak  of  14-carat 
watches  or  22-carat  or  solid-gold  rings. 

When  you  see  the  marks  on  a 
v.^atch-case  or  the  inside  of  a  gold  ring 
they  read  18  K  or  14  K,  or  whatever 
number  of  carats  the  maker  w'ishes  to 
indicate.  A  piece  of  gold  jewelry 
marked  18  K  or  18  carats  means  that 


it  is  three- fourths  pure  gold.  In  ar- 
ranging this  basis  of  marking  things 
made  of  gold,  absolutely  pure  gold  is 
c.'dled  24  carats.  Then  if  two,  six  or 
ten  twenty-fourths  of  alloy  has  been 
added,  the  amount  of  the  alloy  is  de- 
ducted from  twenty-four,  and  the  re- 
sult is  either  22,  18  or  14  carats  fine, 
and  so  on.  On  ordinary  articles  made 
by  jewelers  the  amount  of  pure  gold 
used  is  seldom  over  18  carats,  or 
three-fourths.  Weddings  rings  (and 
these  are  considered  solid  gold)  are 
generally  made  22  carats  fine,  that  is, 
there  are  only  two  twenty- fourth  parts 
of  alloy  in  them, 

"Why  Does  Silver  Tarnish? 

Silver  is  a  remarkably  white  metal, 
which  is  associated  with  gold  as  one  of 
the  precious  metals.  It  is  harder  than 
gold  and  will  not  rust,  although  it  will 
tarnish,  which  gold  will  not,  when  ex- 
posed to  certain  kinds  of  air. 

The  silver  tarnishes  when  it  is  ex- 
posed to  any  kind  of  air  that  has  sul- 
phur mixed  in  it.  It  ranks  below  gold 
a:3  a  precious  metal  for  use  in  making 
ornaments  and  is  not  so  costly,  be- 
cause there  is  a  great  deal  more  of  it 
to  be  found  in  the  world. 

While  silver  is  somewhat  harder 
than  gold,  it  is  still  not  sufficiently 
hard  to  use  pure  for  making  coins,  so, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  gold  coins,  it  is 
mixed  with  something  else — copper — 
to  harden  it.  Otherwise  our  dimes  and 
quarters  would  wear  out  too  rapidly. 
Our  silver  coins  are  made  of  nine  parts 
of  silver  to  one  of  copper.  The  coins 
of  France  are  in  the  same  proportion, 
while  the  silver  coins  of  England  are 
made  of  92^  parts  of  silver  to  73/2 
parts  of  copper.  German  silver  coins 
are  made  of  three  parts  of  silver  and 
one  of  copper. 

Why    Do    We    Use    Copper    Telegraph 
Wires? 

One  of  the  characteristics  which  dis- 
tinguishes copper  is  its  color — a  pe- 
culiar red.  It  stands  next  to  gold  and 
silver  in  ductility  and  malleability,  and 


WHY   LEAD   IS   SO   HEAVY 


267 


comes  next  to  iron  and  steel  in  te- 
nacity— which  means  the  ability  of  its 
tiny  particles  to  hang  on  to  each  other. 
That  is  why  copper  wire  bends  in- 
stead of  breaking  when  you  twist  it. 
But  that  is  not  the  only  reason,  al- 
though an  important  part  of  the  rea- 
son, why  we  use  copper  for  telegraph 
wires.  Copper  is  an  extremely  good 
conductor  of  electricity  when  it  is  pure. 
So  are  gold  and  silver,  but  we  cannot 
afford  to  buy  gold  and  silver  wires  for 
the  telegraph,  telephone  and  other 
wires,  and  if  we  used  such  wires  the 
cost  of  the  equipment  would  be  so 
great  that  we  could  not  afford  to  have 
telephones  in  our  homes.  But  there  is 
a  great  deal  of  copper  in  the  world 
and  it  is  very  cheap,  and  so  it  makes 
an  ideal  element  for  use  in  things 
through  which  electricity  is  to  pass. 
When  you  compound  it  with  other  sub- 
stances it  loses  some  of  its  conduc- 
tivity. Copper  is  used  extensively  in 
many  ways  in  the  world.  This  book  is 
,  printed,  for  instance,  from  copper 
electrotype  plates.  The  whole  business 
of  electrotyping  is  based  on  the  use  of 
copper. 

Why  Is  Lead  So  Heavy? 

Lead  is  a  white  metal  and  is  noted 
for  its  softness  and  durability.  It  has 
a  luster  when  freshly  cut,  but  becomes 
dull  quite  soon  after  the  freshly-cut 
surface  is  exposed  to  the  air.  Lead  is 
the  softest  metal  in  general  use.  It 
can  be  cut  with  an  ordinary  knife.  It 
can  be  rolled  out  into  thin  sheets,  but 
cannot  be  drawn  out  into  wire. 

Lead  is  a  very  dense  metal,  that  is, 
its  particles  are  very  compact  and 
there  is  no  room  for  air  to  circulate 
in  between  these  particles.  A  piece  of 
wood  is  lighter  than  a  jiiece  of  lead 
of  exactly  equal  bulk,  l)ecausc  the  little 
particles  which  make  up  the  piece  of 
wood  are  not  very  close  together,  and 
there  is  a  lot  of  air  in  the  ordinary 
piece  of  wood,  while  this  is  not  true  of 
the  lead. 

A  great  deal  of  lead  is  used  in  mak- 
ing pipes  for  plumbing.  This  is  be- 
cause lead  pipe  is  comparatively  cheap, 


although  you  might  not  think  so  when 
you  think  of  the  general  conclusions 
we  have  been  brought  to  form  about 
plumbers  and  everything  connected 
with  them.  Lead  pipe  is  easily  bent 
in  any  direction  also,  and  is  particularly 
good  for  use  in  plumbing  for  that 
reason. 

Another  wide  use  of  lead  is  in  mak- 
ing paints — white  lead  being  the  base 
used  in  making  oil  paints.  The  process 
of  making  white  lead  for  paint  is  quite 
interesting  and  pictures  of  it  are  shown 
in  "The  Story  In  a  Can  of  Paint" 
in  another  part  of  "The  Book  of  Won- 
ders." 

Why    Are    Cooking   Utensils    Made    of 
Tin? 

Tin  is  the  least  important  of  the  six 
useful  metals.  It  is  also  inferior  in 
many  ways  to  the  others  in  this  group 
of  elements,  but  is  tougher  than  lead 
and  will  make  a  better  wire,  though 
not  a  really  good  one.  It  has  a  white- 
ness and  a  luster  that  are  not  tarnished 
by  ordinary  temperature  and  is  cheap. 
That  is  why  it  is  used  in  making  cook- 
ing utensils,  pans,  etc.,  and  for  roofs. 
But  the  pans,  roofs,  etc.,  are  not  pure 
tin.  They  are  thin  sheets  of  iron 
coated  with  tin.  Pure  tin  would  not 
be  strong  enough  for  these  purposes, 
so  a  sheet  of  iron  is  first  taken  to  sup- 
ply the  strength  and  then  covered  with 
tin  to  improve  the  appearance  of  the 
tin  pans  and  keep  them  from  rusting 
rapidly. 

What  Is  Gravitation? 

Gravitation  is  the  result  of  the  at- 
traction which  every  body,  no  matter 
what  its  size*  has  for  every  other  body. 
It  is  a  strange  force  and  difficult  to 
explain  in  plain  words.  It  is  what 
keeps  the  heavenly  bodies  in  their 
jxilhs.  Every  one  of  the  ])lancts  is 
held  in  its  path  by  gravitation  and 
every  object  on  each  of  the  planets  is 
kept  on  the  planet  by  gravitation.  Wc 
can  come  nearer  understanding  gravi- 
tation by  studying  the  effect  of  tlic  at- 
traction of  gravitation  on  our  own 
earth  and  the  obji'cts  on  it.     When  you 


268 


WHAT   SPECIFIC   GRAVITY   MEANS 


throw  a  ball  or  a  stone  into  tlie  air 
il:  is  the  attraction  of  gravitation  that 
causes  it  to  come  back.  If  this  were 
not  so  the  stone  would  go  on  up  and 
up  and  would  keep  on  going  forever. 
If  it  were  not  for  this  wonderful  force 
you  could  jump  into  the  air  and  just 
keep  on  going  up  with  nothing  to  bring 
you  back.  Tlie  reason  you  do  not  pull 
the  earth  toward  you  is  because  the 
body  or  mass  with  the  greater  bulk 
has  always  the  greater  pulling  power. 

This  is  a  wonderful  force.  It  can- 
not be  produced  nor  can  it  be  destroyed 
or  lessened.  It  just  is.  It  acts  be- 
^•een  all  pairs  of  bodies.  If  other 
bodies  come  between  any  pair  of 
bodies  the  attraction  of  gravity  be- 
tween the  two  outside  bodies  is  neither 
lessened  or  increased,  and  yet  each  of 
the  outside  bodies  will  have  an  inde- 
pendent attraction  or  pull  on  the  body 
which   is   in  between. 

No  particle  of  time  is  spent  by  the 
transmission  of  the  force  of  gravity 
from  one  body  to  another,  no  matter 
how  far  apart  they  may  be.  The  only 
effect  that  distance  has  on  the  attrac- 
tion of  gravitation  is  to  lessen  its 
fc>rce.  Any  body  which  is  being  pulled 
through  gravity  toward  another  body 
v.-ould  fall  toward  the  center  of  the 
attracting  body  if  all  the  force  of  at- 
traction from  all  other  bodies  were 
removed. 


What  Is  Specific  Gravity? 

Specific  gravity  is  the  ratio  of 
weight  of  a  given  bulk  of  any  sub- 
stance to  that  of  a  standard  substance. 
The  substances  taken  as  the  standard 
for  solids  and  liquids  is  water,  and  air 
or  hydrogen  for  gases.  Since  the 
weights  of  different  bodies  are  in  pro- 
portion to  their  masses,  it  follows  that 
the  specific  gravity  of  any  body  is  the 
same  as  its  density,  and  we  now  gen- 
erally use  the  term  "density"  instead 
of   specific  gravity. 

To  find,  for  instance,  the  specific 
gravity  of  a  given  bulk  of  silver,  we 
must  take  an  equal  bulk  of  water  and 
weigh  it.     Then  we  also  weigh  the  sil- 


ver. We  find  that  the  silver  weighs 
ten  and  a  half  times  as  much  as  the 
water,  and  so  the  specific  gravity  of 
silver  is  10.5.  If  you  will  bear  in 
mind  that  water  is  the  standard  used 
for  measuring  the  specific  gravity  of 
solids  and  liquids,  and  that  air  or  hy- 
drogen are  used  as  standards  for  the 
gciscs,  you  will  always  know  what  the 
figures  after  the  words  specific  gravity 
mean. 


Why  Do  We  See  Stars  When  Hit  On  the 
Eye? 

We  do  not  really  see  stars,  of 
course,  when  we  are  hit  on  the  eye  or 
when  we  fall  in  such  a  way  as  to  bump 
the  front  of  our  heads.  What  we  do 
see,  or  think  we  see,  is  light. 

To  understand  this  we  must  go  back 
to  the  explanation  of  the  five  senses — 
sight,  hearing,  feeling,  tasting  and 
touching.  Now,  each  of  these  senses 
has  a  special  set  of  nerves  through 
which  the  sensations  received  by  each 
of  the  senses  is  communicated  to  the 
brain  and,  as  a  rule,  these  special 
nerves  receive  no  sensations  excepting 
those  which  occur  in  their  own  par- 
ticular field  of  usefulness.  The  eye 
then  has  nerves  of  vision ;  the  nose, 
nerves  of  smell ;  the  ear,  nerves  of 
hearing ;  the  mouth,  nerves  of  taste,  and 
the  entire  body  nerves  of  touch.  As 
we  have  seen  then,  these  special  nerves 
are  susceptible  of  receiving  impres- 
sions or  sensations  only  in  their  par- 
ticular field.  But,  if  you  should  be 
able  to  rouse  the  nerves  of  smell  in 
an  entirely  artificial  way  and  give  them 
a  sensation,  they  might  easily  act  very 
much  as  though  they  smelled  some- 
thing. We  find  this  often  in  the  nerves 
of  touch  when  we  think  we  feel  some- 
thing when  we  do  not. 

Now,  when  some  one  hits  you  in  the 
eye,  the  nerves  of  vision  are  disturbed 
in  such  a  way  as  to  produce  upon  the 
brain  the  sensation  of  seeing  light.  In 
other  words,  you  cannot  affect  the  eye 
nerves  without  causing  the  sensation 
of  light,  and  that  is  just  what  happens 
when  some  one  hits  you  in  the  eye. 


HOW  A   BOAT  CAN  SAIL  UNDER  WATER 


269 


ARGONAUT,   JUNIOR. 

Experimental  Boat,  i8< 


ARGONAUT    THE    FIRST. 

Built  1896- 1897. 


The  Story  in  a  Submarine  Boat 


How  Can  a  Ship  Sail  Under  Water? 

Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  stories 
we  could  tell  about  the  ships  that  sail 
beneath  the  water  were  the  creations 
of  the  minds  of  writers  of  fiction,  hke 
the  author  of  "Twenty  Thousand 
Leagues  Under  the  Sea,"  but  to-day 
we  can  read  of  many  actual  trips  be- 
neath the  water  by  the  brave  men  who 
man  our  sulmiarines.  We  never 
dreamed  that  the  great  story  of  Jules 
Verne  would  be  realizefl  in  the  little 
but     very    destructive    ships     of     war 


which  can  be  seen  to-day  in  tlic  naval 
ports  of  the  nations  of  the  wc^rld. 

We  might  have  had  these  submarines 
long  ago  but  for  the  fact  that  the  men 
who  were  trying  to  invent  them  would 
not  give  up  the  secrets  which  they  had 
discovered.  Many  men  in  different 
])arts  of  the  world  worked  on  this 
])roblem  and  each  discovered  one  or 
more  things  which  were  valual)le  in 
working  out  a  solution,  and  if  they  had 
all  gotten  together  and  compared  notes 
between  them  they  could  have  produced 
a  submarine  boat  almost  as  good  as 
those  we  have  to-day. 


270 


HOW  A  SUBMARINE    IS   SUBMERGED 


How    Does   the    Submarine    Get   Down 
Under  the  Surface? 

The  first  essential  in  a  vessel  to  en- 
able it  to  navigate  below  the  surface 
of  the  water  is  that  it  be  made  suf- 
ficiently strong  to  withstand  the  sur- 
rounding pressure  of  water,  which  in- 
creases at  the  rate  of  .43  of  a  pound 
for  each  foot  of  submergence. 

A  boat  navigating  at  a  depth  of  100 
feet  would  therefore  have  43  pounds 
pressure  per  square  inch  of  surface, 
or  6192  pounds  for  every  square  foot 
of  surface.  It  will  readily  be  seen, 
therefore,  that  the  first  essential  is 
great  strength.  Therefore,  the  sub- 
marine boats  are  usually  built  circular 
in  cross  section  with  steel  plating  riv- 
eted to  heavy  framing,  as  that  is  the 
best  form  to  resist  external  pressure. 
These  boats  are  built  for  surface  navi- 
gation as  well,  therefore  they  have  a 
certain  amount  of  buoyancy  when  navi- 
gating on  the  surface,  the  same  as  an 
ordinary  surface  vessel.  When  it  is 
desired  to  submerge  the  vessel  this 
buo)^ncy  must  be  destroyed,  so  that 
the  vessel  will  sink  under  the  surface. 

Now,  the  submerged  displacement  of 
a  submarine  vessel  is  its  total  volume, 
and,  theoretically,  a  vessel  may  be  put 
in  equilibrium  with  the  w^ater  which  it 
displaces  by  admitting  water  ballast 
into  compartments  contained  Avithin  the 
hull  of  the  vessel,  therefore,  if  a  ves- 
sel whose  total  displacement  submerged 
was  100  tons,  the  vessel  and  contents 
must  weigh  also  100  tons.  If  it  weighed 
one  ounce  more  than  100  tons  it  would 
sink  to  the  bottom.  If  it  weighed  one 
ounce  less  than  100  tons  it  would  float 
on  the  surface  with  a  buoyancy  of  one 
ounce.  If  it  weighed  exactly  100  tons 
it  would  be  in  what  submarine  design- 
ers specify  as  being  "in  perfect  equi- 
librivmi." 

It  is  possible  to  give  a  vessel  a  slight 
negative  buoyancy  to  cause  her  to  sink 
to,  say,  a  depth  of  50  feet  and  then 
pump  out  sufficient  water  to  give  her 
a  perfect  equilibrium,  and  thus  cause 
her  to  remain  at  a  fixed  depth  w^hile  at 
rest.  In  practice,  however,  this  is  sel- 
dom done.  Most  submarine  boats  navi- 
gate under,  the   water  with  a  positive 


buoyancy  of  from  200  to  1000  pounds 
and  are  either  steered  at  the  depth 
desired  by  a  horizontal  rudder  placed 
in  the  stern  of  the  vessel,  or  are  held 
to  the  depth  by  hydroplanes,  which 
hydroi)lanes  correspond  to  the  tins  of  a 
fish.  They  are  flat,  plane  surfaces,  ex- 
tending out  from  either  side  of  the 
vessel,  and  when  the  vessel  has  head- 
way, if  the  forward  ends  of  these  planes 
are  inclined  downward,  the  resistance 
of  the  water  acting  upon  the  planes 
is  sufficient  to  overcome  the  reserve  of 
buoyancy  and  holds  the  vessel  to  the 
desired  depth.  If  the  vessel's  propeller 
is  stopped,  the  boat,  having  positive 
buoyancy,  will  come  to  the  surface. 

By  manipulating  either  the  stern  rud- 
ders or  the  hydroplanes,  the  vessel  may 
be  readily  caused  to  either  come  nearer 
to  the  surface  or  go  to  a  greater  depth, 
as  the  change  of  angle  will  give  a 
greater  or  less  downpull  to  overcome 
the  reserve  of  buoyancy. 

The  above  description  applies  to  nav- 
igating a  vessel  wdien  between  the  sur- 
face of  the  w'ater  and  the  bottom. 

Another  type  of  vessel  w'hich  is  used 
for  searching  the  bottom  in  locating 
wrecks,  obtaining  pearls,  sponges,  or 
shellfish,  is  provided  with  wheels.  In 
this  type  of  vessel  the  boat  is  given  a 
slight  negative  buoyancy,  sufficient  to 
keep  it  on  the  bottom,  and  it  is  then 
propelled  over  the  water  bed  on  wheels, 
the  same  as  an  automobile  is  propelled 
about  the  streets.  This  type  of  vessel 
is  also  provided  with  a  diver's  com- 
partment, which  is  a  compartment  with 
a  door  opening  outward  from  the  bot- 
tom. If  the  operators  in  the  boat  wish 
to  inspect  the  bottom,  they  go  into  this 
compartment  and  turn  compressed  air 
into  the  compartment  until  the  air 
pressure  equals  the  water  pressure  out- 
side of  the  boat ;  i.  e.,  if  they  were  sub- 
merged at  a  depth  of  100  feet  they 
would  introduce  an  air  pressure  of  43 
pounds  per  square  inch  into  the  diving 
compartment.  The  door  could  then  be 
opened  and  no  water  could  come  into 
the  compartment,  as  the  diving  com- 
partment would  be  virtually  a  diving 
bell.  Divers  can  then  readily  leave 
the  boat  by  putting  on  a  diving  suit 
and  stepping  out  upon  the  bottom. 


ONE   OF  THE  FIRST  PRACTICAL  SUBMARINES 


271 


"protector."        13U1LT      I9OI-I9O2,      BRIDCKPOKT,     CONN. 

This  was  the  pioneer  Submarine  Torpedo  Boat  of  the  level-keel  type,  and  w.as  built 
in  Bridgeport  in  1901-1902.  It  was  shipped  to  St.  Petersburg,  Russia,  during  the  Russian- 
Japanese  war.  From  St.  Petersburg  it  was  shipped  to  Vladivostok,  6000  miles  across 
Siljeria,  special  cars  being  built  for  its  transport. 


rw ,  v.ri^'f^'^- 


h 


This  picture  iiluslratcs  the  same  vessel,  also  at  full  speed  under  engines,  with  the 
conning-towcr  entirely  awash  and  with  the  sighting-liood  and  the  Omniscopc  alone  above 
water.  Notwithstanding  the  limited  areas  exposed  above  the  surface,  still  observation 
could  be  had  well-nigh  continuously  cither  through  tlie  dcad-lighls  in  the  sighling-hood 
or  by  means  of   the  Omniscopc. 

In  neither  condition  is  it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  ilcrlrical  proi)ulsion — (he  boats 
can   still   be   safely   and   si)eedily   driven   as   here   shown   luidrr   tluir   engines. 


272 


THE  INSIDE  OF  A    SUBMARINE 


TIIF.    "G-t'      RKCENTI.V     DEI.IVKRF.n    TO    THE     UNITED     STATES     GOVERN' ME  XT. 

Tlie  largest,    fastest   submarine    in    the    United     States    and    the    most    powerfully    armed 
submarine  torpedo  boat  in  the  world. 

In  addition  to  the  usual  fixed  torpedo  tubes  arranged  in  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  which 
requires  the  vessel  herself  to  be  trained,  the  (seal)  '"G-i"  carries  four  torpedo  tul)es  on 
her  deck  which  may  be  trained  while  the  vessel  is  submerged,  in  the  same  manner  as  a 
deck  gun  on  a  surf.i.ce  vessel  is  trained,  and  thus  fired  to  either  broadside,  which  gives 
many   technical   advantages. 


The  above  view  gives  a  general  idea  of  the  interior  of  a  submarine  torpedo  boat 
and  the  method  of  operation  when  running  entirely  submerged  with  periscope  only  above 
the  surface. 

The  commanding  officer  is  at  the  periscope  in  the  conning  tower  directing  the  course 
of  the  submarine  through  the  periscope,  which  is  a  tube  arranged  with  lenses  and  prisms 
which  gives  a  view  of  the  horizon  and  everything  above  the  surface  of  the  water,  the 
same  as  if  the  observer  in  the  submarine  was  himself  above  water.  The  steersman  is 
shown  just  forward  of  the  commanding  officer  and  steers  the  vessel  by  compass  under 
the  direction  of  the  commanding  officer,  the  same  as  w^hen  navigating  above  the  surface. 
In  the  larger  type  boats  the  steersman  also  has  a  periscope  which  enables  him  to  see  what 
is  going  on  above  the  surface.  Below  decks  two  of  the  crew  are  shown  loading  a  torpedo 
into  the  torpedo  tube ;  each  torpedo  is  charged  with  gun-cotton  and  will  run  under  its  own 
power  over  a  mile  and  will  e.xplode  on  striking  the  enemy.  The  crew  live  in  the  com- 
partment aft  of  the  torpedo  room.  Aft  of  this  is  the  engine  room,  in  which  art  iocated 
powerful  internal  combustion  engines  for  running  on  the  surface  and  electric  tootors 
for  running  submerged.  The  electric  motors  are  driven  by  storage  batteries  located  under 
the  living  quarters.  Wheels  are  shown  housed  in  the  keel,  which  may  be  lowered  for 
navigating  on  the  bottom  in  shallow  water.  A  diving  compartment  in  the  bow  permits 
divers  to  leave  the  vessel  when  on  the  bottom,  to  search  for  and  cut  or  repair  cables  or 
to  plant  mines. 


A  SUBMARINE  SAILING  CLOSE  TO  THE  SURFACE 


273 


A  sLibmarine  running  partly  submerged  with  the  connnig  tower  hatch  upon,  showing 
the  remarkable  steadiness  of  this  type  of  boat  in  a  semi-submerged  condition,  a  thing 
no  otlier  craft  could  safely  accomplish.  v 


Another  bubniariiie  running  entirely  .subnierged,  periscope  only  showing.  The  flag 
is  attached  to  top  of  periscope  to  show  her  position  in  maneuvers  when  periscope  goes 
entirely  under  water. 


274 


THE   EYE  OF  A  SUBMARINE 


A  PHOTOGRAPH   TAKEN   WITH  THE  PERISCOPE  UNIVERSAL  LENS. 


AN  ALL-SEEING  EYE  FOR  THE  SUBMARINE 


Vision  under  water  is  limited  to  but 
a  few  yards  at  best,  and  hence  a  sub- 
marine boat,  when  submerged,  would 
be  as  blind  as  a  ship  in  a  dense  fog 
and  would  have  to  grope  its  way  along 
guided  only  by  chart  and  compass,  were 
it  not  for  a  device  known  as  a  peri- 
scope, that  reaches  upward  and  pro- 
jects out  of  the  water,  enabling  the 
steersman  to  view  his  surroundings 
from  the  surface.  Of  course  the  height 
of  the  periscope  limits  the  depth  at 
which  the  craft  may  be  safely  sailed. 
Nor  can  the  periscope  tube  be  extended 
indefinitely,  because  the  submarine 
must  be  capable  of  diving  under  a  ves- 
sel when  occasion  demands.  But  when 
operating  just  under  the  surf  ace,  where 
it  can  see  without  being  seen,  the  craft 


is  in  far  greater  danger  of  collision  than 
vessels  on  the  surface,  because  it  must 
depend  upon  its  own  alertness  and 
agility  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  other 
boats.  The  latter  can  hardly  be  ex- 
pected to  notice  the  inconspicuous  peri- 
scope tube  projecting  from  the  water 
in  time  to  turn  their  great  bulks  out  of 
the  danger  course. 

The  foregoing  article  describes  the 
type  of  periscope  now  in  common  use 
on  submarines  and  one  of  the  engrav- 
ings on  this  page  clearly  illustrates  the 
principles  of  the  instrument.  A  serious 
defect  of  this  type  of  instrument  is 
that  the  field  of  vision  is  too  limited. 
The  man  at  the  wheel  is  able  to  see 
under  normal  conditions  only  that 
which  lies  immediately  before  the  boat. 


SEEING   IN   ALL   DIRECTIONS   AT  ONCE 


275 


it  is  true  that  he  can  turn  the  periscope 
about  so  as  to  look  in  other  directions, 
but  this,  of  course,  involves  consider- 
able inconvenience.  On  at  least  two 
occasions  has  a  submarine  boat  been 
run  down  by  a  vessel  coming  up  behind 
it. 

As  long  as  the  submarine  has  but  a 
single  eye  it  would  seem  quite  essential 
to  make  this  eye  all-seeing ;  and  since 
the  two  lamentable  accidents  just  re- 
ferred to,  an  inventor  in  England  has 
devised  a  periscope  which  provides  a 
view  in  all  directions  at  the  same  time. 


This  has  been  attempted  before,  but 
it  has  been  found  very  difficult  to  ob- 
tain an  annular  lens  mirror  which 
would  project  the  image  down  the  peri- 
scope tube  without  distortion.  The 
accompanying  illustrations  show  how 
this  difficulty  has  now  been  overcome. 
While  we  will  not  attempt  to  enter 
into  a  mathematical  explanation  of  the 
precise  form  of  the  mirror  lens,  it 
will  suffice  to  state  that  it  is  an  annular 
prism.  The  prism  is  a  zonal  section 
of  a  sphere  with  a  conoidal  central 
opening  and  a  slightly  concave  base.  All 
the  surfaces,  however,  are  generated 
by  arcs  of  circles  owing  to  the  me- 
chanical inconvenience  of  producing 
truly  hyperboloidal  surfaces.  The  lens 
mirror  is  shown  in  section  at  A  in  Fig. 
I.  The  arrows  indicate  roughly  the 
course  of  the  rays  into  the  lens  and 
their  reflection  from  the  surface  B, 
which  is  preferably  silvered.  The  tube 
is  provided  with  two  objectives  C  and 
D  (Fig.  3)  between  which  a  condenser 
E  is  interposed  at  the  image  plane  of 
the  lens  C.  At  the  bottom  of  the  peri- 
scope tube  the  rays  are  reflected  by 
means  of  a  prism  F  into  the  eyepiece. 
Two  eyepieces  are  employed.  One  of 
lower  power,  G,  is  a  Kelner  eyepiece, 
the  purpose  of  which  is  to  permit  in- 
spection of  the  whole  image,  while  a 
high-powered  eccentrically  placed  Huy- 
ghenian  eyepiece,  H,  enaljles  one  to 
inspect  portions  of  the  image.  The 
two  eyepieces  are  mounted  in  a  rectilin- 
ear chamber,  /,  which  may  be  rotated 
about  the  prism  at  the  end  of  the  peri- 
scope, thus  bringing  one  or  other  of 
the  eyepieces  into  active  position.  The 
plan  view,  Fig.  4,  shows  in  full  lines 
the  high-powered  eyepiece  in  operative 
position,  while  the  dotted  lines  indicate 
the  parts  moved  about  to  bring  the 
low-powered  cyci)icce  into  use.  A  small 
catch,  /,  shown  in  Fig.  2,  serves  to 
liold  the  chamber  in  cither  of  these 
two  ])ositions.  The  high-jx^wered  eye- 
])icce  is  mounted  on  a  ])late,  A',  which 
may  be  rotated  to  bring  the  eyepiece 
into  position  for  inspecting  any  desired 
portions  of  the  annular  image.  The 
parts  arc  so  arranged  that  wheti  the 
(ye])iece    is    in    lis    uppermost    position, 


276 


HOW   WE    LOOK   THROUGH    A    PERISCOPE 


riii;    I'EUiscoi'E   TOP. 


as  indicated  by  lull  lines  in  Fig.  2,  the 
observer  can  sec  that  which  is  (hrectly 
in  front  of  the  submarine,  and  when 
the  eyepiece  is  in  its  low  position,  as 
indicated  by  dotted  lines,  he  sees  ob- 
jects to  the  rear  of  the  submarine. 
With  the  eyepiece  at  the  right  or  at 
the  left  he  sees  objects  at  the  right  or 
left,  respectively,  of  the  submarine. 
The  high-powered  eyepiece  is  slightly 
iticlined,  so  that  the  image  may  be 
viewed  normally  and  to  equal  advan- 
tage in  all  parts.  Mounted  above  a 
plain  unsilvered  portion  of  the  mirror 
is  a  scale  of  degrees  which  appears  just 
outside  of  the  annular  image.  A  scale 
is  also  engraved  on  the  j^late  K  with 
a  fixed  pointer  on  the  chamber,  making 
it  possible  to  locate  the  position  of  any 
object  and  rotate  the  plate  K  so  as  to 
bring  the  eyepiece  H  on  it.  The  scale 
also  makes  it  possible  to  locate  the  ob- 
ject with  respect  to  the  boat. 

This  improved  periscope  is  appli- 
cable not  only  to  submarine  boats  but 
for  other  purposes  as  well,  such  as 
pliotographic  land  surface  work,  in 
which  the  entire  surroundings  may  be 
recorded  in  a  single  photograph.  The 
accompanying  photograph,  taken 
through  a  periscope  of  this  type,  shows 
the  advantages  of  this  arrangement 
and  gives  an  idea  of  its  value  to  the 
submarine  observer  when  using  the 
low-powered  eyepiece.  Of  course,  by 
using  the  other  eyepiece  any  particular 
part  of  the  view  may  be  enlarged  and 
examined  in  detail. 


PERISCOPE  IN   GENER.AL  USE. 


THE    UN1VERS.\L    OBSERVATION     LENS. 


INSIDE  OF  A  MINE=PLANTINQ  SUBMARINE 


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278 


HOW   EXPLOSIONS   MAY   OCCUR  ON   SUBMARINES 


Accidents  and  Their  Causes. 

The  accidents  which  submarine  ves- 
sels must  guard  against  are  as  follows : 
collision,  foundering,  explosions  and 
asphyxiation.  The  first  danger  is, 
however,  no  greater  than  those  to 
wliich  vessels  that  run  entirely  on  the 
surface  of  the  water  are  exposed.  The 
eye  of  the  submarine  places  the  com- 
mander on  a  practical  level  with  the 
commander  of  other  vessels,  so  that  if 
a  collision  occurs  it  is  due  to  the  same 
lack  of  watchfulness  which  causes  col- 
lisions on  the  surface  of  the  water. 

The  submarine  boat  is  less  liable  to 
founder  than  an  ordinary  vessel,  be- 
cause she  is  built  to  withstand  a  greater 
pressure  of  water  than  other  kinds  of 
vessels.  Of  course,  if  a  submarine 
springs  aleak,  she  is  in  grave  danger 
of  sinking  to  the  bottom,  and  there  is 
less  chance  of  the  crew  being  rescued 
from  a  submarine,  because  no  one  but 
those  on  board  know  of  the  danger  if 
the  boat  is  under  the  water. 


How  Explosions  May  Occur. 

In  submarine  vessels  explosions  may 
occur  either  through  a  collection  of 
gases  from  the  batteries  or  by  reason 
of  leaks  in  the  pipes  or  tanks  of  the 
fuel  supply  system,  or  through  the 
bursting  of  the  air  flasks  belonging  to 
the  boat,  or  the  air  reservoirs  in  the 
automobile  torpedoes.  The  greatest 
danger  is  from  explosive  gases  and 
have  been  the  cause  of  all  explosions 
in  modern  submarine  craft,  and  the 
greatest  danger  in  this  connection  is 
the  liability  of  a  leak  in  the  gasolene 
pipes  or  tanks.  This  gas  is  a  heavy 
gas  and  so  goes  to  the  bottom  of  the 
vessel,  where  it  is  not  so  easily  de- 
tected as  a  gas  which  rises.  There  is 
no  certain  way  of  guarding  against 
leaks  of  gasolene.  A  leak  may  occur 
at  any  time  in  a  pipe  or  tank  of  gaso- 
lene through  some  cause  or  other  no 
matter  how  carefully  inspected,  and 
the  gas  from  this  is  so  active  that  it 
will  go  through  the  tiniest  hole  imag- 
inable— even  through  a  hole  which 
water  will  not  penetrate.  The  crew  of 
a  submarine  is  always  subject  to  this 


danger  unless  the  tanks  are  built  out- 
side the  hull  of  the  ship. 

How  the  Air  May  Become  Poisoned. 

There  is  a  constant  danger  of  as- 
phyxiation to  the  men  in  the  submarine. 
A  very  small  leakage  of  gas  or  the 
exhaust  from  an  internal  combustion 
engine  may  make  the  air  so  impure 
that  those  aboard  will  be  overcome.  A 
great  deal  of  care  must  be  taken  to 
keep  the  air  pure  and  to  warn  the  crew 
at  the  first  sign  of  danger  from  this. 

When  submarines  first  came  into 
practical  use,  it  was  found  a  good  idea 
to  take  a  number  of  little  white  mice 
down  with  the  vessel  to  warn  all  if 
the  air  began  to  become  impure.  As 
soon  as  this  occurred,  the  mice  became 
distressed  and  squealed  as  loudly  as 
they  could,  thus  warning  those  aboard 
the  ship  of  danger.  The  mice  felt  the 
impurity  of  the  air  quicker  than  the 
men,  not  because  they  had  any  special 
gift  to  discover  when  the  air  was  bad, 
but  because  they  breath  much  more 
quickly  than  man — take  shorter  and 
many  more  breaths. 

Now,  however,  a  chemical  device  has 
been  invented  which  is  affected  in  such 
a  way  as  to  ring  a  loud  bell,  if  the  air 
in  the  vessel  becomes  impure  to  such 
an  extent  that  there  is  any  danger. 

Breathing  the  same  air  over  and  over 
may  fill  the  vessel  w^ith  carbonic  acid 
gas.  There  should  be  no  great  danger 
from  this,  however,  as  submarines  are 
now  built  sufficiently  large  to  provide 
enough  actually  pure  air  for  each  man 
aboard  for  forty-eight  hours,  and  it  is 
hardly  conceivable  that  a  submarine 
need  be  submerged  more  than  half  that 
length  of  time  under  any  conditions. 

Of  course,  then,  too,  there  is  the 
danger  of  accident  due  to  carelessness 
or  ignorance.  In  other  words,  it  is  just 
as  difiicult  to  make  a  fool-proof  sub- 
marine as  a  fool-proof  anything  else. 
Wherever  anything  is  constantly  de- 
pendent upon  the  continuous  careful 
attention  of  human  beings,  there  is  con- 
stant danger  of  accident,  whether  it 
be  on  board  a  submarine,  a  railroad 
train,  steamship  or  in  connection  with 
anything  else. 


A  SUBMARINE   UNDER  THE   ICE 


279 


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280 


WHO   MADE  THE   FIRST  SUBMARINE   BOAT? 


Story  of  How  the  Submarine  Has  Been 

Developed. 

It  is  only  within  the  past  twenty 
years  that  man  has  been  able  to  suc- 
cessfully navigate  under  the  surface  of 
the  water. 

It  has  been  a  dream  of  inventors 
and  engineers  for  the  past  three  hun- 
dred   years. 

During  the  reign  of  King  James  I. 
a  crude  submarine  vessel  was  built  of 
wood,  and  was  designed  to  be  propelled 
by  oars  extending  out  through  holes 
in  the  side  of  the  vessel,  the  water 
being  prevented  from  coming  in 
through  the  openings  by  goat  skins  tied 
about  the  oars  and  nailed  to  the  sides 
of  the  boat,  which  made  a  water-tight 
joint,  but  at  the  same  time  gave  flexi- 
bility to  the  oars,  so  that  by  feathering 
them  on  the  return  stroke  they  could 
be  manipulated  to  give  head  motion. 
Very  little,  if  any,  success  could  have 
attended  this  effort. 

Nearly  a  hundred  years  later  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Day  built  a  submarine 
and  made  a  wager  that  he  could  de- 
scend to  lOO  yards  and  remain  there 
24  hours.  He  built  a  boat  and  sub- 
merged it  in  a  place  where  there  was 
a  depth  of  100  yards.  He  succeeded 
in  remaining  the  24  hours,  and  accord- 
ing to  latest  ad^nces  is  still  there,  as 
he  never  returned  to  the  surface. 

There  is  very  little  information  as 
to  the  construction  of  these  early  craft. 
The  first  really  serious  attempt  at  sub- 
marine navigation  was  made  by  a  Con- 
necticut man,  a  Dr.  David  Bushnell, 
who  lived  at  Saybrook  during  the  Rev- 
olutionary War.  He  built  a  small  sub- 
marine vessel  which  he  called  the 
"American  Turtle,"  and  with  it  he  ex- 
pected to  destroy  the  British  fleet,  an- 
chored off  New  York  during  its  occu- 
pation by  General  Washington  and  the 
Continental   Army. 

Thatcher's  Military  Journal  gives  a 
description  of  this  vessel  and  describes 
an  attempt  to  sink  the  British  frigate 
"Eagle"  of  64  guns  by  attaching  a  tor- 
pedo to  the  bottom  of  the  ship  by 
means  of  a  screw  manipulated  from 
the  interior  of  this  submarine  vessel. 

A  sergeant  who  operated  the  "Tur- 


tle" succeeded  in  getting  under  the 
British  vessel,  but  the  screw  which  was 
tc  hold  the  torpedo  in  place  came  in 
contact  with  an  iron  scrap,  refused  to 
enter,  and  the  implement  of  destruc- 
tion floated  down  stream,  where  its 
clockwork  mechanism  linally  caused  it 
to  explode,  throwing  a  column  of  water 
high  in  the  air  and  creating  consterna- 
tion among  the  shipping  in  the  harbor. 
Skippers  were  so  badly  frightened  that 
they  slipped  their  cables  and  went 
down  to  Sandy  Hook.  General  Wash- 
ington complimented  Dr.  Bushnell  on 
having  so  nearly  accomplished  the  de- 
struction of  the  frigate. 

If  the  performance  of  Bushnell's 
"Turtle"  was  such  as  described,  it 
seems  strange  that  our  new  govern- 
ment did  not  immediately  take  up  his 
ideas  and  make  an  appropriation  for 
further  experiments  in  the  same  line. 
When  the  attack  was  made  on  the 
"Eagle,"  Dr.  Bushnell's  brother,  who 
was  to  have  manned  the  craft,  was 
sick,  and  a  sergeant  who  undertook 
the  task  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  the  operation  to  succeed  in  attach- 
ing the  torpedo  to  the  bottom  of  the 
frigate.  Had  he  succeeded  the  "Eagle" 
would  undoubtedly  have  been  destroyed 
and  the  event  would  have  added  the 
name  of  another  "hero"  to  history  and 
might  then  have  changed  the  entire  art 
of  naval  warfare.  Instead  of  Bushnell 
being  encouraged  in  his  plans,  how- 
ever, they  were  bitterly  opposed  by  the 
naval  authorities.  His  treatment  was 
such  as  finally  to  compel  him  to  leave 
the  country,  but  he  returned  after  some 
years  of  wandering,  and  under  an  as- 
sumed name,  settled  in  Georgia,  where 
he  spent  his  remaining  days  practicing 
his  profession. 

Robert  Fulton,  the  man  whose  genius 
made  steam  navigation  a  success,  was 
the  next  to  turn  his  attention  to  sub- 
marine boats,  and  submarine  warfare 
by  submerged  mines.  A  large  part  of 
his  life  was  devoted  to  the  solution  of 
this  problem.  He  went  to  France  with 
his  project  and  interested  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  who  became  his  patron  and 
who  was  the  means  of  securing  suf- 
ficient funds  to  build  a  boat  which  was 


HOW  SUBMARINES  WERE  DEVELOPED 


281 


called  the  "Nautilus."  With  this  vessel 
Fulton  made  numerous  descents,  and 
it  is  reported  that  he  covered  500 
yards  in  a  submerged  run  of  seven 
minutes. 

In  the  spring  of  1801  he  took  the 
"Nautilus"  to  Brest,  and  experimented 
with  her  for  some  time.  He  and  three 
companions  descended  in  the  harbor  to 
a  depth  of  25  feet  and  remained  one 
hour,  but  he  found  the  hull  would  not 
stand  the  pressure  of  a  greater  depth. 
They  were  in  total  darkness  during  the 
whole  time,  but  afterward  he  fitted  his 
craft  with  a  glass  window  i^  inches 
in  diameter,  through  which  he  could 
see  to  count  the  minutes  on  his  watch. 
He  also  discovered  during  his  trials 
that  the  mariner's  compass  pointed 
equally  as  true  under  water  as  above 
it.  His  experiments  led  him  to  believe 
that  he  could  build  a  submarine  vessel 
with  which  he  could  swim  under  the 
surface  and  destroy  any  man-of-war 
afloat.  When  he  came  before  the 
French  Admiralty,  however,  he  was 
met  with  blunt  refusal,  one  blufT  old 
French  admiral  saying:  "Thank  God, 
France  still  fights  her  battles  on  the 
surface,  not  beneath  it,"  a  sentiment 
which  apparently  has  changed  since 
those  days,  as  France  now  has  a  large 
fleet  of  submarines.  After  several 
years  of  unsuccessful  efiforts  in  France 
to  get  his  plans  adopted,  Fulton  finally 
went  over  to  England  and  interested 
William  Pitt,  then  chancellor,  in  his 
schemes.  He  built  a  boat  there,  and 
succeeded  in  attaching  a  torpedo  be- 
neath a  condemned  brig  provided  for 
the  purpose,  blowing  her  up  in  the 
presence  of  an  immense  throng.  Pitt 
induced  Fulton  to  sell  his  boat  to  the 
I'.nglish  government  and  not  bring  it  to 
the  attention  of  any  other  nation,  thus 
recognizing  the  fact  that  if  this  type  of 
vessel  should  be  made  entirely  success- 
ful, Fngland  would  lose  her  supremacy 
as  the  "Mistress  of  the  Seas." 

Fulton  consented  to  do  so,  but  would 
not  pledge  himself  regarding  his  own 
country,  stating  'that  if  his  country 
should  become  engaged  in  war,  no 
l)lcdge  could  be  given  that  would  pre- 
vent him   from  offering  his  services  in 


any  way  which  would  be  for  its  benefit. 

The  English  Government  paid  him 
$75,000  for  this  concession.  Fulton 
then  returned  to  New  York  and  built 
the  "Clermont"  and  other  steamboats, 
but  did  not  entirely  give  up  his  ideas 
of  submarine  navigation,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death  was  at  work  on  plans 
for  a  much  larger  boat. 

Fulton  had  a  true  conception  of  the 
result  of  submarine  warfare,  and  in  a 
letter  he  says  :  "Gunpowder  has  within 
the  last  three  hundred  years  totally 
changed  the  art  of  war,  and  all  my 
reflections  have  led  me  to  believe  that 
this  application  of  it  will,  in  a  few 
years,  put  a  stop  to  maritime  wars,  give 
that  liberty  on  the  seas  which  has  been 
long  and  anxiously  desired  by  every 
good  man,  and  secure  to  Americans 
that  liberty  of  commerce,  tranquillity, 
and  independence  which  will  enable 
citizens  to  apply  their  mental  and  cor- 
poreal facilities  to  useful  and  humane 
pursuits,  to  the  improvement  of  our 
country  and  the  happines  of  the  whole 
people." 

After  Fulton's  death  spasmodic  at- 
tempts were  made  by  various  inventors 
looking  to  the  solving  of  the  dif^cult 
problem,  but  no  very  serious  efforts 
were  put  forth  until  the  period  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  then  a  number  of  sub- 
marine boats  were  built  by  the  Confed- 
erates. These  boats  were  commonly 
called  "Davids,"  and  it  was  one  of 
them  that  sank  the  United  States 
steamship  "Housatonic"  in  Charleston 
Harbor  on  the  night  of  the  17th  of 
February,  1864.  This  submarine  ves- 
sel drowned  four  different  crews,  a 
total  of  thirty  men,  during  her  brief 
career.  At  the  time  she  sank  the  "Hou- 
satonic" her  attack  was  anticipated, 
and  sharp  lookout  was  kept  at  all 
times ;  but,  notwithstanding  their  vigi- 
lance, she  succeeded  in  getting  sufti- 
cicntly  close  to  plant  a  tor])edo  on  the 
end  of  a  sj)ar,  and  sink  this  line,  new 
shij)  of   i4(X)  tons  dis])lacement. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  de- 
scription that  these  vessels,  while  able 
to  go  un<!er  water,  were  not  control- 
lable. 

After   the    Civil    War    several    otlR-r 


282    THE  FIRST  SUCCESSFUL  SUBMARINE  WITH   HYDROPLANES 


inventors  took  up  the  problem  of  try- 
ing to  design  a  submarine  vessel  that 
coukl  be  controlled  as  to  maintenance 
of  depth  and  direction  under  water. 

In  luirojie,  Gustave  Zede,  Goubet 
and  Drzwiezki.  and  in  this  country  Mr. 
Baker  and  Mr.  John  P.  J  lolland,' built 
experimental   vessels. 

In  1877  Mr.  Holland  built  a  small 
beat  which  was  called  the  "Fenian 
Ram."  It  is  stated  that  this  vessel  was 
l)uik  with  capital  furnished  by  the 
"Clan-na-Gael,"  with  the  idea  of  using 
it  against  the  British  fleet  in  an  at- 
tempt  to    free    Ireland. 

While  some  slight  success  was  met 
with  by  these  inventors,  it  was  not  until 
about  1897  that  any  real  progress  was 
made. 

In  1893,  Simon  Lake,  an  American 
inventor,  submitted  plans  to  the 
L'nited  States  Naval  authorities  at 
Washington  for  a  submarine  boat  that 
would  navigate  between  the  surface 
and  the  bottom  by  the  use  of  what  he 
called  "hydroplanes,"  which  were  de- 
signed to  cause  the  vessel  to  submerge 
on  an  even  keel.  Mr.  Lake's  design  of 
vessel  was  also  provided  with  wheels 
to  enable  it  to  navigate  on  the  water 
bed.  It  was  also  provided  with  a  div- 
ing compartment  to  enable  the  crew  to 
don  diving  suits  and  leave  the  vessel, 
in  working  on  wrecks,  cutting  cables, 
jilanting  mines,  etc. 

In  1904  and  1905  he  built  a  small 
vessel  to  demonstrate  his  principles 
and  succeeded  in  successfully  navigat- 
ing the  vessel  on  the  bottom  of  New 
York  Bay.  He  then  built  a  larger  ves- 
sel of  about  50  tons  displacement  for 
further  experimental  purposes.  This 
vessel  was  called  the  "Argonaut,"  and 
was  built  in  Baltimore  in  1906  and 
1907.  This  boat  was  successful  from 
the  start  and  covered  thousands  of 
miles  in  the  Chesapeake  Bay  and  along 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  New  York  Bay  and 
Long  Island  Sound,  and  was  the  first 
successful  submarine  boat  to  navigate 
in  the  open  sea  and  on  the  water  bed 
of  the  ocean. 

Mr.  Holland  had,  in  1894,  received 
a  contract  for  a  submarine  vessel  for 
the  L^nited  States  Navy,  and  her  con- 


struction was  started  in  1895.  This 
vessel  was  called  the  "Plunger."  This 
was  the  first  official  recognition  given 
to  a  sul)marine  l)oat  in  the  United 
States. 

The  Government  of  France  had  also 
given  an  order  for  a  submarine  boat 
which  was  under  construction  at  this 
period. 

The  "Plunger"  was  never  submerged, 
her  construction  covering  a  period  of 
several  years,  and  she  was  finally 
abandoned.  Mr.  Holland  had,  how- 
ever, in  the  meantime  prepared  the  de- 
signs of  another  vessel  which  he  called 
"The  Holland."  This  vessel  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment in  1900,  and  a  number  of  other 
vessels  of  this  type  were  built.  These 
vessels  were  known  as  submarines  of 
the  diving  type.  They  were  controlled 
by  means  of  a  horizontal  and  vertical 
rudder  placed  at  the  stern  of  the  ves- 
sel and  the  boat  was,  by  means  of  these 
rudders,  inclinefl  down  by  the  bow, 
and  driven  under  the  water  by  the 
force  of  their  screw  propeller. 

England  also  built  a  number  of  sub- 
marines of  the  diving  type. 

In  1901  Mr.  Lake  brought  out  a 
larger  vessel  of  his  type,  which  was 
controlled  by  hydroplanes,  which  ves- 
sel was  sold  to  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, was  shipped  across  the  Atlantic 
to  Kronstadt,  and  from  there  by  rail  to 
Vladivostok,  and  was  in  commisson 
of¥  Vladivostok  just  before  the  close 
of  the  Russian-Japanese  War. 

Mr.  Lake  then  received  orders  from 
the  Russian  and  other  Governments 
for  a  number  of  additional  boats  of 
the  even  keel  type,  to  be  controlled  by 
hydroplanes. 

Mr.  Lake's  principles  of  control 
have  been  now  generally  adopted  by 
all  Governments,  as  providing  the  saf- 
est and  most  reliable  means  of  control 
of  the  vessel  when  navigating  under 
the  surface. 

The  United  States  Government  has 
recently  adopted  this  type  to  be  built 
in  their  Navy  Yards,  and  most  other 
builders  have  adojited  the  hydroplanes 
as  the  means  of  maintaining  depth 
when  running  beneath  the  surface. 


This   is    one    of   the    sr--  nine    bM.nts    of    this    tvjju    IliiJ    themselves    with    peculiar 

fitness.  It  is  possible  for  them  to  carry  on  this  work  with  deliberation  and  to  success,  under  the  very 
guns   and    searchlights    of   a   vigilant    foe,    without    the    slightest    danger    of    being    detected. 

This  would  be  accomplished  preferably  by  the  co-operation  of  two  boats.  They  would  take  opposite 
sides  in  the  channel,  with  a  connecting  rope  extending  out  through  the  diving  compartment.  It  is 
obvious  that  as  they  move  along  the  rope  will  sweep  the  whole  mine-field  and  gather  in  the  connecting 
cables.  This  would  be  indicated  at  once  to  the  operators  in  the  diving  compartment  by  the  load 
upon  the  sweeping  line.  A  grapple  may  then  be  attached  to  the  rope  and  sent  out  of  one  boat  and 
hauled  into  the  other,  and  thus  drag  the  mine  so  near  that  a  diver  could  go  out  and  destroy  its 
electrical  connections  or  cut  it  adrift.  Should  the  latter  operation  be  the  aim,  the  grapple  may  be 
so  fashioned  as  to  accomplish  this  without  the  diver  leaving  the  compartment.  This  latter  method  is 
one   strongly    recommended  by   some   of  the   most   prominent   military   authorities   on    submarine   defense. 


r 


This  nicture  indicates  the  manner  in  which  the  boats  have  traveled  manv  miles  over  all  kinds  ol 
bottom.  In  the  present  inslanre  the  boat  is  shown  svslcniatiiallv  seaichiiiK  the  bottom  with  her  diving 
door    ijpcn    and    str.jiig    lights    being    used    to     facilitate    a    more    iierfect    e.xaiiiination. 

I'hcrc  is  no  trim  or  c(|iiilibrinm  to  maintain.  Whin  the  propelling  inaehinery  slops  the  boat 
comes  to  rest.  A  cyclometer  allached  to  these  wheels  gives  a  fairly  reliable  reading  of  the  distance 
traveled  under  normal  cirt  iinislanees.  As  the  currents  do  not  e.irry  her  out  of  licr  course,  and  as 
her  gauges  give  an  absolute  recorrl  of  changing  depths,  it  is  possible  to  so  navigate  upon  the  bottom 
with    remarkable    precision.       In    shallow    waters    this    method    iias    many    advaiitaKes. 


LIFE  ABOARD   A  SUBMARINE 


285 


Recovering  Cargo  or  Submerged  Objects 
Without  the  Aid  of  Divers. 
The  operating  tube  is  here  shown 
within  the  body  of  a  hulk  and  co-op- 
erating with  the  Hfting  derrick  on  the 
surface  craft  in  the  removal  of  the 
submerged  cargo.  A  grab-dredge 
bucket  of  well-known  construction  is 
used,  the  jaws  of  which,  when  being 
lowered  by  one  rope,  open,  and  when 
strain  is  brought  on  the  lifting  rope, 
the  jaws  close.  The  working  end  of 
the  tube  is  placed  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  cargo  to  be  lifted 
and,  as  the  grab  is  being  lowered  from 
the  boat  above,  the  operator  in  the 
compartment  controls  the  grab  by 
means  of  the  guide  line  shown  at- 
tached to  the  small  derrick  boom,  and 
leads  it  directly  over  the  cargo  to  be 
lifted.  The  grab  is  then  dropped  and 
the  signal  sent  to  the  vessel  above  to 


hoist.  The  moment  the  lifting  line 
tautens  the  bucket  grasps  a  load  and 
fills  itself  with  material  in  the  man- 
ner common  to  this  type  of  dredge. 
This  method  of  directing  intelligently 
and  deliberately  the  dredge  bucket  may 
be  applied  as  well  to  the  removal  of 
rock  or  any  other  obstruction  or  to 
any  of  those  various  services  of  kin- 
dred character  familiar  to  submarine 
engineers.  The  great  and  prime  advan- 
tage of  the  system  is  the  fact  that  no 
divers  are  required,  and  the  work  is 
under  the  perfect  control  of  an  oper- 
ator subject  only  to  atmospheric  pres- 
sure. In  consequence,  therefore,  the 
only  limit  to  the  effective  operating  of 
this  apparatus  is  the  length  of  the  tube, 
and,  as  has  been  said,  this  can  be  made 
long  enough  to  reach  depths  denied  to 
the  diver  simply  by  interposing  addi- 
tional sections. 


* 

1  mm 
V    - 

m 

Hi 

LIVING    yUAKTKKS     AbUAKl)     A     Sl'U.M  AKI NE. 


2S6 


WHERE  SPONGES   COME   FROA\ 


Where  Do  Sponges  Come  From? 

Until  within  comparatively  recent 
years,  the  sponge  was  regarded  as  a 
plant ;  it  is  now  known  to  belong  to  the 
animal  kingdom,  and  to  the  order  spon- 
gida  of  the  class  of  rhizopoda.  Sponge 
is  an  elastic,  porous  substance,  formed 
of  interlaced  horny  fibers,  which  pro- 
duce by  their  numerous  inosculations, 
a  rude  sort  of  network,  with  meshes  or 
jiores  of  unequal  sizes,  and  usually  of 
a  square  or  angulated  shape.  Besides 
these  pores  there  are  some  circular  holes 
of  large  size  scattered  over  the  surface 
of  most  sponges,  which  lead  into  sinu- 
ous canals  that  permeate  their  interior 
in  every  direction.  The  oscula.  canals, 
and  pores,  communicate  freely  together. 
The  characteristic  property  of  the 
sponge  is  the  facility  with  which  it  ab- 
sorbs a  large  quantity  of  any  fluid, 
more  especially  of  water,  which  is  re- 
tained amid  the  meshes  vmtil  forced  out 
again  by  a  sufficient  degree  of  com- 
pression, when  the  sponge  returns  to 
its  former  bulk.  From  this  peculiarity, 
combined  with  its  pleasant  softness, 
arises  the  value  of  the  sponge  for  the 
purposes  to  which  it  is  applied.  In  do- 
mestic economy  and  in  surgical  prac- 
tice, there  is  no  other  product  that  can 
be  satisfactorily  substituted  for  it. 

Sponge  is  an  aquatic  production,  in- 
digenous to  almost  every  sea  and  shore. 
It  is  abundant  and  varied  between  the 
tropics,  but  becomes  less  so  in  temperate 
latitudes  and  continues  to  diminish  in 
quantity,  variety,  and  size,  as  it  is  traced 
into  European  and  colder  s€as,  until  it 
almost  disappears  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
polar  circles.  Some  sponges  are  known 
to  be  hermaphrodite,  but  that  the  in- 
dividual at  one  period  produces  chiefly 
male  elements,  and  later,  chiefly  female 
elements.  Fertilization  takes  place  in 
the  body  of  the  mother,  and  the  egg 
here  undergoes  its  early  development. 
The  embryo  eventually  bursts  the  ma- 
ternal tissue  and,  passing  into  one  of 
the  canals,  is  caught  by  the  current 
sweeping  through  the  canal  system  and 
is  discharged  into  the  surrounding 
water  through  one  of  the  large  aper- 
tures on  the  surface  of  the  sponge.    In 


the  Bahama  Islands  and  along  the  coast 
of  Florida,  the  breeding  time  of  many 
sponges  covers  the  period  from  mid- 
summer  on   througii   early   Autumn. 

There  is  propagation  sometimes  by 
ciliated  gemmules.  yellowish  and  oval, 
arising  from  the  sarcode  mass,  and  car- 
ried out  by  the  currents.  These  are 
mostly  formed  in  the  spring,  and  after 
swimming  freely  about  for  a  time,  be- 
come fixed  and  grow.  In  its  natural 
state,  the  sponge  is  a  very  different 
looking  object  from  the  article  of  com- 
merce. The  entire  surface  is  covered 
with  a  thin,  slimy  skin,  usually  of  a 
dark  color,  and  perforated  to  corre- 
spond with  the  apertures  of  the  canals. 
The  sponge  of  commerce  is  in  reality 
only  the  home  or  the  skeleton  of  the 
sponge. 

There  are  a  few  sponges  that  inhabit 
ponds  and  sluggish  rivers ;  the  others 
are  marine.  Of  these,  many  of  the 
calcareous  and  siliceous  kinds  inhabit 
the  shores  between  tide-marks,  preferr- 
ing a  site  near  the  low  ebb.  where, 
nevertheless,  they  are  daily  alternately 
submerged,  and  left  exposed  to  the  at- 
mosphere. The  figured  sponges  with  a 
fibrous  texture,  to  whatever  genus  they 
belong,  are  denizens  of  deeper  water, 
and  are  never  left  uncovered.  They 
grow  usually  in  groups,  on  rock  shells, 
shellfish,  corallines,  and  seaweeds,  and 
either  have  no  power  of  selection,  or 
the  quality  of  the  site  is  indifferent  to 
them. 

How  Do  Sponges  Grow? 

In  their  growth,  some  sponges  as- 
sume a  determinate  figure  or  at  least 
one  whose  variations  are  confined  with- 
in certain  limits.  The  greater  number 
are  irregular  and  variable,  their  shape 
depending  in  a  great  measure  upon  the 
peculiarities  of  their  state,  to  which  they 
easily  accommodate  themselves.  They 
will  incrust  a  shell,  or  a  crab,  a  rock, 
or  seaweed,  following  every  projection 
and  sinuosity.  The  offshoots  will  spring 
up  with  a  more  luxuriant  growth  in  the 
deeper  sheltered  places  until  the  origi- 
nal shape  of  the  foundation  they  grow 
upon  is  lost  to  sight. 


HOW  SPONGES  EAT 


287 


Sponges  are  unmoving  and  inirrit- 
able.  They  never  remain  rooted  to  the 
places  of  the  germination,  and  are  in- 
capable either  of  contracting  or  dilating 
themselves  or  even  of  moving  any  fiber 
or  portion  of  their  mass.  The  fimc- 
tions  which  distinguish  them  as  living 
beings  are  few,  and  faintly  imaged. 

How  Do  Sponges  Eat? 

Although  sponges  lack  the  power  of 
motion  possessed  by  most  animals,  be- 
ing nearly  always  attached,  in  one  po- 
sition or  another,  to  some  object,  the 
study  of  their  habits  in  captivity  brings 
out  many  of  their  animal  characteristics 
in  a  striking  manner.  Small  specimens 
taken  from  the  sea  and  placed  in  dishes 
of  salt  water  may  be  kept  alive  for 
several  hours  if  well  cared  for;  and 
by  using  finely  powdered  coloring  mat- 
ter, such  as  carmine  or  indigo,  the  man- 
ner of  their  feeding  may  be  readily  ob- 
served. Sponges  are  more  active  in 
fresh  sea  water  than  in  stale ;  they  can- 
not be  kept  alive  out  of  water  and  soon 
die  if  exposed  to  the  air.  Being  unable 
to  go  in  search  of  food,  as  a  natural 
result,  they  can  grow  only  in  places 
where  there  is  always  an  abundance  of 
food  suited  to  their  wants.  The  great 
sponging  grounds  of  the  world  are 
wholly  confined  within  waters  having 
a  relatively  high  temperature  during 
the  entire  year.  The  Old  World 
sponges  grow  principally  in  the  Medi- 
terranean and  the  Red  seas ;  the  New 
World  sponges  are  found  about  the  Ba- 
hamas, southern  and  western  Florida, 
and  parts  of  the  West  Indies.  The 
finest  sponges  come  from  the  East,  but 
one  of  the  American  species,  the  so- 
called  "sheep's  wool,"  stands  high  in 
favor. 

The  commercial  sponges  are  sepa- 
rated into  six  species,  three  of  which 
are  European  anrl  three  American. 
They  are  all  referred  to  a  single  genus 
called  sj)ongia,  and  though  having  mncli 
in  common  as  regards  structure,  their 
texture  varies  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
make  them  of  very  unequal  value  for 
domestic  purposes. 


The  Old  World  species  may  be  ar- 
ranged as  follows,  in  order  of  their 
grade  of  excellence,  beginning  with  the 
best  quality :  The  Turkey  cup  sponge, 
Levant  toilet  sponge,  the  horse,  honey 
comb,  or  bath  sponge,  and  the  Zimoca 
sponge.  The  American  species  include 
the  sheep's  wool  sponge,  the  yellow 
glove,  violet,  and  grass,  sponges.  A 
very  close  relationship  exists  between 
the  species  of  the  two  continents. 

All  known  regions  in  which  useful 
specimens  abound  contribute  to  the 
world's  supply.  The  trade  is  extensive. 
The  demands  upon  the  fisheries  are 
great.  In  the  Mediterranean,  the  fish- 
ing is  carried  on  in  some  places  at  a 
depth  of  forty  fathoms.  Divers, 
naked,  or  in  armor,  go.  down  to  the 
bottom  and  tear  off  the  sponges  from 
their  places  of  gro\vth.  In  some  places 
drag  dredges  are  employed. 

How  Are  Sponges  Caught? 

In  the  past  quarter-century  the 
sponge  -fishery  of  the  Florida  coast  has 
pTOwn  remarkably.  Its  headquarters 
is  at  Key  West  and  several  hundred 
sailing  vessels  are  engaged  in  the  indus- 
try. The  fishing  appliances  consist  of 
a  small  boat,  a  long  hook,  and  a  water- 
glass.  The  hook  is  in  reality  a  three- 
pronged  spear  attached  to  a  pole  thirty- 
five  feet  long.  In  searching  for  sponge 
the  fishers  row  about  in  the  small  boat. 
By  hoMing  the  glass  on  the  surface  of 
the  water  the  bottom  is  plainly  seen 
and  small  objects  are  readily  discerned. 
When  a  sponge  is  sighted  the  pole  with 
the  hook  attached  is  shot  down  and  the 
product  deftly  gathered.  The  boat-load 
is  brought  to  the  deck  of  the  schooner, 
allowed  to  remain  there  a  few  hours, 
and  then  is  carried  down  into  the  hold. 
On  Friday  nights,  the  fishing  generally 
ends  for  the  week,  and  the  vessel  sails 
for  some  spot  on  the  neighboring  coast 
where  there  are  established  crawls, 
or  places  for  curing  the  catch.  These 
crawls  are  about  8  x  10  feet  sfjiiare, 
their  pur|'K)S'e  being  to  hold  the  sponges 
while  maceration  and  decomposition 
take  place.  The  resulting  refuse  is 
carried  off  by  the  tide. 


288 


WHY   YEAST  MAKES  BREAD  RISE 


The  fishermen  go  away  for  anotlier 
catch  and  the  sponges  are  left  in  the 
crawls  until  the  end  of  the  following 
week  when  a  new  cargo  is  brought  in 
The  returning  fishermen  beat  the  de- 
composed sponges  with  clubs,  removing 
the  impurities.  The  water  is  squeezed 
out,  then  the  sponges  are  allowed  to 
dry  on  the  ground. 

After  drying,  the  hold  of  the  large 
vessel  is  loaded  to  the  utmost  with  the 
product  and  the  voyage  to  Key  West 
is  made.  lUiyers  from  New  York  look 
over  the  sponges,  and  make  offers  for 
entire  cargoes.  The  fishermen  dispose 
of  their  goods  rapidly  and  sail  away 
for  more.  The  buyers  store  the  sponges 
in  some  dry  building,  and  cause  them 
to  be  bleached  by  lime.  A  popular  man- 
ner of  bleaching  is  to  wash  the  sponges 
thoroughly  in  water,  and  then  to  im- 
merse them  in  diluted  hydrochloric  acid 
to  dissolve  any  of  the  calcareous  sub- 
stance. Having  again  been  washed 
they  are  placed  in  another  bath  of  dilute 
hydrchloric  acid  to  which  six  per  cent, 
of  hyposulphite  of  soda,  dissolved  in 
a  Ihtile  warm  water,  has  been  added. 
In  this  bath  the  sponges  remain  for 
twenty-four  hours,  or  until  the  bleach- 
ing process  is  completed.  After  bleach- 
ing, the  sponges  are  pressed  until  their 
bulk  is  greatly  reduced ;  they  are  then 
baled,  and  shipped  to  New  York,  which 
is  the  distributing  point  for  the  entire 
I'lorida  product. 

Sponges  are  by  far  the  most  impor- 
tant fishery  products  of  Florida,  repre- 
senting about  one-third  of  the  annual 
value  of  the  fishing  industry.  In  1899, 
the  yield  was  over  350,000  pounds  of 
sponges  of  which  the  first  value  was 
nearly  ^400,000. 

Why  Does  Yeast  Make  Bread  Rise? 

There  is  a  lot  of  sugar  in  the  dough 
from  which  bread  is  made.  Sugar  con- 
tains three  things — carbon,  hydrogen 
and  oxygen.  When  sugar  is  fermented 
it  amounts  practically  to  burning  it.  To 
make  good  bread  from  the  dough  it  is 
necessary  to  ferment  the  sugar  which  is 
in    the    ingredients    from    which    it    is 


made.  Yeast,  which  is  a  simple  living 
plant,  has  the  power  to  ferment  sugar. 
When  sugar  ferments,  two  things  are 
produced.  One  thing  is  the  formation 
of  carbonic  acid  gas.  A  great  deal  of 
this  carbonic  acid  gas  is  caught  in  the 
dough  in  the  form  of  large  or  small 
bubbles  and  some  of  it  escapes  into  the 
air.  The  other  part  tries  to  escape  into 
the  air  also  but  cannot,  and  causes  the 
dough  to  rise,  which  makes  the  bread 
light,  as  we  say.  The  holes  you  see  in 
the  bread  after  it  is  baked  are  the  little 
pockets  where  the  carbonic  acid  gas 
was  retained  in  the  dough.  These  bub- 
bles of  gas  all  through  the  dough  act 
like  a  lot  of  little  balloons  and  lift  the 
dough  up  with  themselves  as  they  try  to 
get  to  the  top  and  escape  into  the  air. 

What  Is  Yeast? 

Yeast  is  a  living  plant  that  is  used 
for  the  purpose  of  causing  fermenta- 
tion. The  yeast  Ve  use  in  baking  bread 
is  an  artificial-^east — really  a  dough 
made  of  flour  and  a  little  common  yeasL 
and  made  into  small  cakes  and  dried. 
If  kept  free  from  moisture  it  retains 
the  power  of  causing  fermentation  for 
some  time.  The  flour  and  other  matter 
in  a  cake  of  yeast  are  only  used  to  keep 
the  yeast  in  a  form  where  it  can  be 
preserved.  It  is  necessary  to  add  water 
to  start  fermentation  and  that  is  why 
we  add  hot  water  when  we  stir  in  the 
yeast  for  a  baking. 

Is  a  Moth  Attracted  By  a  Light? 

It  seems  to  be  a  strange  contradiction 
of  the  nature  of  living  things  that  a 
moth  should  fly  deliberately  into  a  light 
or  dash  itself  to  death  against  the  glass 
surrounding  a  strong  light.  This  is 
contrary  to  the  usual  law  of  nature 
which  gives  the  living  thing  an  instinct 
to  protect  itself  against  enemies. 

For  a  long  time  we  thought  that 
moths  did  not  deliberately  burn  them- 
selves up  by  flying  right  into  a  light,  but 
our  naturalists  have  proven  that  not  only 
moths  but  certain  birds,  bees,  flies  and 
butterflies,  burn  themselves  up  by  flying 
into  the  flame  of  a  light  or  fire. 


HOW    MAN    LEARNED  TO   MAKE   A   FIRE 


289 


This  was  probably  man's  first  method  of  pro- 
ducing fire.  By  rubbing  two  sticks  together  in 
this  way  sufficient  heat  was  produced  to  set  fire 
to  easily  burnable  material  such  as  dried  grass, 
etc. 


DRILLING 

An  improvement  came  when 
man  learned  that  by  twirling  a 
dry  stick  in  a  hole  in  another 
piece  of  dry  wood  the  fire  could 
be   started  more  quickly. 


How   Man   Discovered   Fire 


Fire  was  probably  orfe  of  man's  first, 
if  not  the  first,  great  discoveries,  and 
has  been  one  of  his  greatest  servants 
as  well  as  one  of  his  greatest  dangers. 
We  do  not  know  who  discovered  fire, 
or  what  nation  first  used  it.  It  is,  how- 
ever, one  of  the  signs  that  distinguishes 
man  from  the  other  animals.  Not  any 
of  the  lower  animals  was  acquainted 
with  the  use  of  fire,  while  probably 
tlie  earliest  races  of  mankind  seem  to 
have  been   acquainted   with   it. 

Mythology  tells  us  wonderful  stories 
of  the  origin  of  fire :  according  to  these 
tales  it  was  stolen  from  the  sun,  or  the 
gods,  and  given  to  man ;  and  Pandora, 
the  first  woman,  was  sent  down  to  earth 
to  punish  man   for  his  theft. 

The  most  popular  of  these  stories  is 
the  legend  of  Prometheus.  According 
to  this  legend,  fire,  in  the  early  days, 
was  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the 
gods.  Prometheus,  brother  of  Atlas, 
the  god  who  supported  the  world  on  his 
shoulders,  determined  that  the  use  of 
fire  should  be  given  to  the  people.  He 
decided  by  some  means  to  send  a  spark 
of  fire  to  the  earth,  believing 'that  one 
spark  caught  by  man  would  start  a 
burning  flame  that  would  never  go  out. 


With  this  idea  in  mind,  Prometheus 
visited  Zeus,  the  great  ruler,  to  carry 
out  his  purpose,  for  Zeus  controlled  fire. 
While  Zeus  was  not  looking,  PrtJfAie- 
theus  "stole  some  brands  of  fire  from 
the  hearth,  which  he  hid  in  the  stalk 
of  a  fennel  and  sent  it  down  to  the 
earth."  Through  this  Prometheus 
gave  to  man  his  first  knowledge  of 
fire. 

But  while  this  story  of  fire  may  or 
may  not  be  true,  the  use  of  fire  rests  en- 
tirely with  man  and  his  ingenuity. 
Through  his  ingenuity  man  was  able  to 
si;bject  fire  to  his  will;  making  it  per- 
form certain  of  his  labors ;  and  to  a 
certain  extent  making  it  his  servant 
although  it  always  did  and  always  will 
get  beyond  his  control  at  times. 

Our  ancestors  were  not  satisfied  with 
preserving  the  fire  which  the  gods  gave 
them ;  they  tried  and  succeeded  in  pro- 
ducing it.  One  day  one  of  them  dis- 
covered that  by  rubbing  two  sticks  to- 
gether rapidly,  the  friction  would  create 
a  fire.  It  was  a  most  useful  di.scovery. 
Before  long  the  whole  of  mankind  had 
learned  this  trick ;  others  improved  on 
this  crude  method  until  step  by  step 
men  learned  that  by  striking  two  pieces 


290 


FIRE    A   MARK  OF   CIVILIZATION 


DRILLING    WITH    BOW    STRING 

Man's  ingenuity  soon  taught  him  that  if  he  tied 
one  end  of  a  string  to  something  and  wrapped 
it  around  his  drilling  stick,  one  end  of  which  was 
in  a  hole  as  in  the  first  drilling  picture,  he  could 
increase  the  rapidity  of  making  fire. 


DRILLING    WITH     HELP 

With  some  other  to  hold  the 
drilling  stick  while  he  operated 
the  string  he  was  able  to  pro- 
duce fire  more  quickly  than 
he  had  ever  done  before. 


of  flint  or  other  hard  mineral  together, 

([uicker  action  was  obtained. 

All  kinds  of  methods   were  devised 

to  increase  knowledge  of  producing  fire, 
/rhe  early  Greeks  found  out  how  to 
fcatch  the  rays  of  the  sun  on  a  burning- 
■  glass    and    produce   fire ;   the   Romans 

achieved  the  same  results  through  the 

use  of  mirrors. 

In  about  A.D.  900,  an  Arab,  named 

Eechel,   discovered   phosphorus,   but   it 

took  almost  800  years  more  for  Hauk- 


witz  to  learn  that  when  phosphorus  was 
brought  into  friction  with  sulphur,  fire 
would  result.  In  another  hundred 
years  the  world  was  benefited  by  the 
invention  of  the  friction  match — and 
since  that  time  about  one-half  the  peo- 
ple have  been  carrying  matches  about 
wnth  them,  able  thus  to  start  a  fire 
easily  any  time. 

Fire  and  man's  knowledge  of  it  have 
had  much  to  do  with  man's  progress  in 
civilization.     Before  man  had  fire,  his 


PLOWING 

This  is  another  method  man  used  for 
rubbing  two  pieces  of  wood  together.  In 
following  this  plan  he  usually  used  one 
stick  of  bamboo  and  rubbed  it  back  and  forth 
in  a  slot  he  had  made  in  another  piece  of 
bamboo. 


KLINT    AND    PYRITES 

In  some  places  it  was  discovered  that  if 
you  struck  a  piece  of  hard  stone,  like  flint, 
against  another,  a  spark  was  produced  which 
could  be  caught  on  a  bunch  of  dry  grass  or 
moss  and  so  start  a  fire. 


THE   FLINT  AND   STEEL   METHOD  OF   MAKING   FIRE         291 


L 

1 

It 

i-'^ 

"•^  -^ 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    THE    FLINT    AND    STEEL    METHOD 

Because  fire  was  so  important  to  him,  man  kept  on  trying  to  make  this  task  easier.  He 
finally  contrived  a  tinder  box  when  iron  and  steel  became  known.  The  tinder  box  is  where 
he  kept  his  flint  and  the  piece  of  steel  which  he  struck  upon  the  flint.  He  also  kept  in  the 
box  pieces  of  cloth  or  paper  on  which  he  caught  the  sparks  so  produced. 


PISTOL    TINDER    BOX 


This  is  a  picture  of  a  tinder  box  in  the 
form  of  a  pistol.  It  enabled  man  to  pro- 
duce sparks  in  greater  numbers  and  more 
rapidly. 


PRODUCING    SPARK    WITH    FLINT   AND    STEEL 

_  This   shows   the   method   for   striking  the 

piece  of  steel  against  the  flint  to  make  the 

sparks    fall    on    the    cloth    or    paper    in  the 
box. 


A    C(JMPLI;TE    TINDEK    BOX     SKI 

This  j)icture  shows  a  very  complete  tinder  box  set 
used  by  the  wealthy  people  in  the  oUl  days.  A  man  car- 
ried this  outfit  with  him  just  as  Irxlay  he  carries 
matches. 


Tiiis  tinder  box  set  is  very  neat 
and  compact.  It  is  said  still  to  be 
used  among  the  Himalayan  tril)es 
wiierc  it  was  discovered.. 


292 


THE  FIRST   MATCHES 


THE    OXYMURIATE     MATCH 

This  match,  the  first,  was  in- 
troduced in  1505.  It  was  a  slip 
of  wood  tipped  with  a  chemical 
mixture.  To  light  it  it  was  nec- 
essary to  stick  its  head  into  a 
bottle  containing  acid. 


PKOMOTHEAN     MATCH 

This  was  a  paper  cigarette  dipped  in  a  mixture  of 
sugar  and  potash.  Rolled  within  the  paper  was  a  tiny 
glass  bull)  filled  with  sulphuric  acid.  To  light  the  match 
you  pressed  the  bulb  with  pincers  hard  enough  to  break 
the  bulb.  This  released  the  acid  which  set  fire  to  the 
paper. 


life  and  movements  were  much  like 
those  of  other  animals.  When  man  had 
learned  to  make  a  fire  he  was  free  to 
move  and  live  anywhere  and,  therefore, 
people  began  to  cover  more  territory. 

What  Would  We  Do  Without  Matches? 
If  one  were  to  ask  the  man  in  the 
street  what  invention  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  his  most  constant  and  inval- 
uable ally  he  might  be  mystified  for 
the  moment,  but  the  undoubted  answer 
would  surely  come  in  the  single  word 
"Matches."  These  familiar  objects, 
apart  from  their  luxurious  use  by 
smokers,  are  the  indispensable  servants 


of  mankind  from  the  moment  of  rising 
in  the  morning  till  the  household  is 
wrapped  in  sleep,  and  it  is  to  them  we 
turn  when  disturbed  in  the  hours  of 
darkness. 

No  doubt  "familiarity  breeds  con- 
tempt," and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine 
how  man  would  fare,  bereft  of  his  box 
of  matches.  It  might  help  the  world 
to  realize  how  much  it  owes  to  the  in- 
ventors of  the  Lucifer  Match,  were  it 
possible  to  cut  off  the  supply  of  these 
magic  fire  producers  for  only  one  brief 
day.  It  requires  no  very  vivid  imagina- 
ation  to  picture  the  consternation  and 
confusion  that  such  a  step  would  pro- 


FIKST    LUCIFER    MATCH 


Invented  by  John  Walker  in  1827.  It  consisted  of 
a  stick  of  wood  tipped  with  sulphur  and  then  with  a 
chlorate  mixture.  To  ignite  it  the  match  was  drawn 
rapidly  through  a  folded  piece  of  sandpaper. 


MODERN      SAFE'-Y      MATCH 

The  first  practical  match  was 
made  less  than  a  century  ago. 


HOW   MATCHES   ARE    MADE 


293 


duce,  and  there  is  a  grim  humor  in 
wondering  how  the  primitive  methods 
of  obtaining  a  hght  would  serve  the 
pubHc  convenience  in  these  days  of 
strenuous  hustle. 

Seeing  that  tire  has  been  employed 
by  man  since  prehistoric  days,  one 
would  expect  that  easy  means  of  ob- 
taining it  would  have  been  devised  in 
the  early  ages.  We  find,  however,  that 
until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  nothing  in  the  nature  of  a 
match  was  available,  and  the  crudest 
methods  were  still  in  use.  We  know 
from  Virgil  that  in  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Titus  fire  was  obtained  by 
rubbing  decayed  wood  with  a  roll  of 
sulphur  between  two  stones,  but  it  is 
not  till  Saxon  times  that  we  have  evi- 
dence of  the  use  of  the  tinder  box  with 
its  flint  and  steel.  That  this  latter  was 
still  regarded  as  something  remarkable, 
as  late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  is 
proved  by  its  representation  in  the  col- 
lar of  the  Order  of  the  Golden  Fleece, 
which  was  founded  in  1429.  Burning 
glasses  had,  of  course,  been  employed 
from  the  most  primitive  times,  but  one 
can  imagine  the  despair  of  an  early 
Briton  who  had  to  wait  for  a  sunny 
day  before  he  could  boil  his  kettle. 

Incredible  as  it  may  seem,  it  was  not 
a  time  well  within  the  memory  of  many 
people  living  to-day  that  matches  in 
anything  approaching  the  form  now 
familiar  were  offered  to  the  public. 
The  way  for  their  manufacture  had 
been  prepared  by  two  discoveries ;  one 
by  a  German  who  isolated  phosphorus 
in  1669;  the  other  by  a  Frenchman  who 
])roduced  chlorate  of  potash  in  1786. 
From  this  latter  date  the  production  of 
fire  was  much  facilitated,  and  a  few 
years  before  Queen  Victoria  came  to 
the  throne,  John  Walker — a  chemist  of 
Stockton-on-Tees — produced  the  first 
friction  matches  of  which  there  is  any 
certain  record.  These,  called  "Con- 
greves,"  were  sold  in  boxes  of  fifty  for 
2/6,  and  their  success  soon  led  others 
to  experiment  in  match  manufacture, 
so  that  improvements  were  rapidly  in- 
vented and  factories  sprang  up  in  all 
parts  of  the  country. 

It  woulrl  be  a  difficult  task  to  com- 


pute accurately  the  value  to  the  human 
race  of  the  introduction  to  general  use 
of  this  little  article.  At  the  present 
writing,  in  America  the  consumption  of 
matches  amounts  to  over  a  billion  of 
matches  a  day. 


How  Matches  Are  Made. 

To-day  matches  are  in  such  demand 
that  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  devised 
a  machine  which  makes  complete 
matches  without  the  help  of  the  human 
hand. 

At  the  very  start  of  operations  a  man 
feeds  blocks  of  wood  into  the  jaws  of 
the  machine,  and  thenceforth  the  me- 
chanical monster  does  its  own  work. 
Seizing  the  block  from  the  man's  hand, 
the  machine  grips  it  between  rollers 
and  forces  it  against  rows  of  keen- 
edged  cutters,  which  are  so  arranged 
that  there  is  little  or  no  waste.  Each 
of  these  cutters  (and  there  are  usually 
forty-eight  in  a  machine)  severs  a  piece 
of  wood  of  exact  size  and  shape.  At 
the  same  moment  a  plate  rises  from  be- 
neath, which  thrusts  these  little  pieces 
of  wood  into  a  moving  flexible  cast-iron 
band,  or  rather  into  small  holes  in  this 
band,  from  which  the  embryo  matches 
project  like  bristles.  This  traveling 
band  is  about  700  feet  in  length,  and  fol- 
lows a  serpentine  course' in  its  journey, 
which  occupies  about  an  hour  from 
start  to  finish,  the  speed  being  regulated 
according  to  temperature  so  that  the 
matches  may  be  quite  dry  when  they 
reach  the  boxes. 

When  the  band  arrives  at  the  finish- 
ing point,  a  steel  bar  punches  out  the 
matches  stuck  in  its  surface  and  they 
fall  into  the  inside  boxes  placed  ready 
to  catch  tiicm.  These  boxes  arc  kept 
continually  shaking,  to  that  no  spaces 
are  left  and  the  matches  fill  them  com- 
])letcly.  As  the  inside  boxes  fill,  a  steel 
arm  presses  them  forward  into  their 
covers,  and  they  are  passed  along  a 
trough  in  dozens,  ([uickly  wrapjK^d  in 
pajjcr  and  scaled  by  a  machine.  Quick- 
fingered  girls  then  wra]i  twelve  of  these 
dozen  jiackages  and  we  have  the  gross 
[)ackages  of   boxes  so    familiar   in   the 


stores.  It  will  be  seen,  that  in  sjnte 
of  the  marvellous  machines  which  do  so 
much,  there  is  still  plenty  of  work  for 
human  hands. 

How  Match  Boxes  Are  Made. 

The  machines  for  making  the  wooden 
box  which  contain  the  matches  are  in 
themselves  wonderful.  First,  a  section 
of  the  trunk  of  an  as]>en  tree,  about 
30  inches  in  length,  is  made  to  revolve 
ir  what  is  known  as  a  peeling  machine. 
After  a  few  revolutions  the  rough 
outer  surface  is  removed,  and  thin  rolls 
of  smooth-surfaced  wood  are  peeled  oft' 
or  veneered.  The  machine  at  the  same 
time  scores  the  wood  ready  for  folding 
by  the  boxmaking  machine.  Cut  into 
skillets,  i.  e.,  into  pieces  of  the  size  re- 
quired for  box  covers  or  insides,  the 
ends  are  next  dipped  in  pink  dye  to 
cover  the  edge  of  the  wood  which  is 
not  covered  by  the  label.  The  skillets 
then  go  to  the  box  machines,  which  fold 
and  label  them,  and  after  half  an  hour 
in  a  cleverly  devised  drying  chamber 
they  are  ready  for  use.  In  one  room 
alone  sixty  machines  are  labelling  and 
folding  the  skillets  to  the  number  of 
several  thousand  gross  a  day.  To  see 
these  machines  take  a  strip  of  wood, 
push  it  forward  to  receive  the  pasted 
label,  fold  it,  fasten  the  joint,  wipe  off 
the  superfluous  paste,  and,  finally,  toss 
the  finished  "outside"  into  a  receiving 
basket,  is  as  fascinating  an  example  of 
mechanical  ingenuity  as  the  industrial 
world  can  afford. 

Are  Matches  Poisonous? 

A  non-poisonous  "strike  anywhere" 
safety  match,  made  from  selected, 
clear,  strong  cork  pine  is  now  made  in 
this  country,  and  is  the  first  satisfactory 
non-poisonous  match.  It  is  also  the 
first  match  to  be  endorsed  by  the  coun- 
try's recognized  leaders  and  authorities 
in  fire  prevention  and  the  conservation 
of  human  life  and  property. 

The  Hughes-Esch  Anti-White  Phos- 
phorus Match  Bill,  which  became  a  law 
during  the  administration  of  President 
Taft,  was  drafted  by  the  attorneys  of 
the    American    Association    of    Labor 


Legislation,  and  is  the  most  drastic  that 
our  National  Constitution  will  permit. 
It  would  be  unconstitutional  to  abso- 
lutely prohibit  the  manufacture  of 
white  phosphorus  matches,  but  the 
IIughes-Esch  bill  obtains  the  same  re- 
sult, viz. :  absolute  prohibition  by  means 
of  excessive  taxation.  No  match  man- 
ufacturer in  these  days  of  keen  com- 
petition can  afi^ord  to  pay  a  tax  of  ten 
cents  On  each  box  of  white  phosphorus 
matches  made,  and  place  his  factory 
under  government  surveillance,  for  this 
tax  of  ten  cents  is  over  three  times  as 
much  as  his  present  selling  price  to 
the  wholesale  trade. 

As  soon  as  man  learned  to  make  fire 
and  light,  he  began  to  appreciate  how 
much  more  comfortable  he  could  be  if 
he  could  keep  his  lights  burning  and 
to  have  his  light  independent  of  his 
fire,  because  it  was  at  times  very  un- 
comfortable to  sit  by  a  fire  on  a  hot 
night  simply  because  he  wished  to  use 
the  light  which  it  made.  The  first 
schemes  devised  for  lighting  purposes 
merely  were  the  camp-fire  torch  and 
the  rushlight.  With  these  as  a  basis, 
man  was  enabled  to  fashion  more  con- 
venient forms  of  lighting.  He  in- 
vented the  candle  and  the  lamp,  and 
grown  "enlightened,"  boxed  his-  light 
in  iron  and  in  other  metals. 

Did  Candles  Come  Before  Lamps? 

The  candle  is  in  appearance  a  primi- 
tive affair,  yet  there  is  little  doubt  that 
its  predecessor  was  the  lamp.  Those 
old  Egyptian  tombs,  which  have  un- 
locked many  mysteries,  held  lamps,  and 
through  them  evidence  of  ancient 
burial  customs.  Lamps  played  a  part 
in  the  solemn  feasts  of  the  Egyptians, 
who  on  such  occasions  placed  them  be- 
fore their  houses,  burning  them 
throughout  the  night.  Herodotus,  in 
one  of  his  numerous  references  to 
Xerxes,  alludes  to  the  hour  of  lamp- 
lighting,  and  evidences  abound  regard- 
ing the  use  of  lamps  among  the  ancient 
Greeks.  Lamps,  indeed,  are  pictured 
upon  some  of  their  oldest  vases,  indi- 
cating the  symbolic  significance  which 
attached  to  them. 


THE  EARLIEST  FORMS   OF   LAMPS 


295 


A  French  watch  tower  of  the  fifteenth 
century  in  time  of  siege.  The  tower  is 
lighted  by  means  of  beacons  and  is  protected 
by  dogs.  Ruins  of  such  a  tower  can  still 
be  seen  at  Godesberger  on  the  Rhine. 


What  Were  the  Earliest  Lamps? 

It  is  probable  that  the  earhest  lamps 
were  nothing  more  than  convenient 
vessels,  filled  with  oil  and  fired  by 
means  of  rushes.  Among  the  Romans 
pine  splinters,  the  torch  and  the  flam- 
beau, supplied  light  until  the  fifth  cen- 
tury before  Christ,  and  even  when  the 
Roman  began  to  use  the  lamp,  it  was 
by  no  means  common,  finding  a  place 
only  in  the  homes  of  the  rich,  or  on 
special  festival  days. 

The  custom  of  burning  funeral  lights 
beside  the  dead  before  interment  is  a 
very  old  one.  Gregory,  interpreting  its 
significance  for  the  Christian,  says  that 
departed  souls,  having  walked  here  as 
the  children  of  light,  now  walk  with 
("iod  in  the  light  of  the  living.  The 
Roman,  I 'liny,  refers  to  the  use  of  the 
])ith  of  brittle  rushes  in  making  funeral 
lights  and  watch-candles,  which  were 
probably  the  ancient  jjrototype  of  the 
old  rushlight  of  England.  Again,  in 
speaking  of  flax,  Pliny  states  that  the 


part  of  the  reed  that  is  nearest  to  the 
outer  skin  is  called  tow,  and  is  good 
for  nothing  but  to  make  lamp-matches 
or  candlewicks. 


What  Were  the  Lamps  of  the  Wise  and 
Foolish  Maidens  Made  Of? 

When  lamps  had  come  into  general 
favor,  better  attention  was  given  to 
their  form  and  construction.  The  first 
seem  to  have  been  made  of  baked  clay, 
moulded  by  hand  into  elongated  ves- 
sels to  contain  the  oil,  and  provided  at 
one  end  with  a  lip  to  admit  the  wick. 
These  are  the  lamps  which  artists  have 
pictured  in  the  hands  of  the  wise  and 
foolish  virgins,  though  in  the  opinion 
of  some  scholars  they  were  merely  rods 
of  porcelain  and  iron,  covered  with 
cloth  and  steeped  in  oil.  Another  early 
type,  which  was  less  common,  presents 
a  simple  disc  with  an  aperture  in  the 
centre  for  the  oil,  and  a  hole  for  the 
wick,  at  one  or  both  of  the  sides. 

Under  the  Empire,  when  the  light 
of  the  lamp  had  become  general,  the 
better  ones  were  made  of  bronze,  orna- 
mented with  heads,  animals,  and  other 
decorations,  attached  to  the  handles, 
while  as  life  in  Rome  partook  more  of 
luxury  and  extravagance,  gold,  silver, 
or  Corinthian  brass  were  the  materials, 
the  designs  being  more  elaborate  and 
complicated.  Many  and  beautiful  ex- 
amples of  these  ancient  lamps  have 
been  unearthed  from  the  ruins  of  Her- 
culaneum  and  Pompeii. 

When  Were  Street  Lamps  First  Used? 

Dark  must  have  been  the  lives  of 
those  people  who,  until  comparatively 
recent  times,  lived,  in  the  absence  of 
sunlight,  by  the  feeble,  uncertain  light 
of  the  primitive  illuminants  borne  by 
these  lamps.  And  as  for  street  light- 
ing— that  was  a  luxury  but  seldom  in- 
dtilged  in,  and  then,  not  for  ])ublic 
benefit,  but  to  enhance  the  glory  of  a 
potentate,  or  grace  the  obsecfuies  of 
some  great  man.  Iwen  Rome,  at  the 
height  of  her  luxury  and  beauty,  rarely 
exhibited  more  than  one  or  two  lanterns 
in  her  streets.     These  were  suspended 


296 


THE    FIRST   STREET   LIGHT    IN    AMERICA 


over  the  baths  and  places  of  pubHc 
resort.  Occasionally,  however,  the 
streets  were  illuminated  during  festi- 
vals and  other  public  occasions,  while 
the  Forum  was  sometimes  lighted  for 


eighteenth  century  the  candles  were 
made  by  dipping  the  wicks  into  melted 
wax  or  tallow,  but  about  this  time  an 
ingenious  Frenchman  conceived  the 
idea  of  casting  them  in  metal  moulds. 


The  first  street  light  in 
America.  Early  in  1795  sever- 
al large  cressets  were  placed 
on  the  corners  of  BoSiton's 
most  frequented  street.  Pine- 
knots  were  placed  in  these  fire 
baskets    b}'    the    night    watch- 


a  midnight  exhibition.  With  these  glit- 
tering exceptions,  and  that  memorable 
one  when,  to  satisfy  the  homicidal  im- 
pulses of  a  bad  emperor,  the  bodies  of 
Christians  were  made  living  torches, 
Rome  was  a  city  of  darkness. 

When  Were  Candles  Introduced? 

Historical  records  indicate  the  preva- 
lent use  of  candles  in  the  earliest  days 
of  Rome,  but  these  candles  were  of  the 
simplest  sort — mere  string  or  rope 
which  had  been  smeared  with  pitch  or 
wax.  In  the  early  Christian  centuries 
it  was  the  custom  to  dip  rushes  in  pitch 
and  coat  them  with  wax,  a  method  of 
candle-making  that  was  long  continued, 
for  it  was  not  until  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury that  dipped  tallow  candles  were 
introduced.  In  the  Middle  Ages  w^ax 
candles  provided  the  usual  means  of 
illumination,  and  these  were  made,  not 
by  common  craftsmen,  but  by  monks, 
or  by  the  servants  of  the  rich.  Until 
the  fifteenth  century  their  use  was  con- 
fined to  churches,  monasteries  and  the 
houses  of  nobles,  but  the  demand  for 
them  had  become  so  great  that  the 
chandlers  of  London  obtained  an  act 
of     incorporation.      As    late    as    the 


A  part  of  the  "Amende  Honorable" 
of  Jacques  Coeur  before  Charles  VII 
of  France. 


It  is  only  within  a  modern  period 
that  the  state  or  city  has  assumed  re- 
sponsibility in  the  matter  of  public 
lighting,  which  for  the  most  part  had 
been  left  to  the  good  will  and  public 
spirit  of  citizens.     But  in  England  a 


A  pagan  votive  lamp  of  bronze,  now 
in  the  museum  at  Naples. 


THE   FIRST  OIL   LANTERN 


297 


The  first  "Reverbere" — oil  lantern — 
with  a  metal  reflector,  used  to  light  the 
streets  of  Paris.  It  was  invented  by 
Bourgeois  de  Chateaublanc  in  1765,  and 
used  until  the   introduction  of  gas. 


proclamation  was  issued  to  the  effect 
that  every  individual  should  place  a 
candle  in  each  of  the  lower  windows 
of  his  house,  and  keep  it  burning  from 
nightfall  until  midnight. 

Paris  was  the  first  city  to  improve 
upon  this  method  of  street  lighting,  and 
in  1658  huge,  vase-like  contrivances, 
filled  with  resin  and  pitch,  were  set  up 
in   the   principal   thoroughfares.      The 


no  honest  man  would  venture  abroad 
without  his  torch  or  flambeau,  and  as 
London,  Berlin,  Vienna,  and  all  leading 
cities  of  Europe,  were  in  like  case,  the 
darkness  of  Paris  could  be  borne. 

But  progress  had  been  made,  and 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century  the  Cor- 
poration of  London  entered  into  con- 
tract with  a  certain  individual  to  set 
up  public  lights,  giving  him  permission 
to  exact  a  sum  of  six  shillings  from 
every  householder  whose  actual  rent 
exceeded  ten  pounds.  In  the  middle  of 
the  same  century  the  Lord  ]\Iayor  and 
Common  Council  applied  to  Parliament 
for  power  to  light  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don better.  From  the  granting  of  this 
permission  dates  improvement  in  pub- 
lic lighting. 

Where  Did  the  Word  "Gas"  Originate? 

A  Belgium  chemist.  Van  Helmont, 
coined  the  word  "gas"  in  the  first  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
Dutch  word  "geest,"  signifying 
"ghost,"  suggested  the  term  to  him, 
and  his  superstitious  neighbors 
hounded  him  into  obscurity  for  talking 
of  ghosts. 


Argand  got  his  first  sug- 
gestion for  his  burner — 
invented  in  1780 — from  this 
style  of  alcohol  lamp,  then 
in  general  use  throughout 
France. 


improvement  proving,  as  may  readily 
be  seen,  both  dangerous  and  exnensive, 
the  falct,  so-called,  were  replaced  by 
the  lantern.  This  was  at  first  simply 
a  rude  frame,  covered  with  horn  or 
leather,  within  which  a  candle  burned. 
For  more  than  one  hundred  ye^irs  this 
was  the  extent  of  the  illumination 
which  the  authorities  could  provide. 
But  of   course   it   was  understood   that 


Hanging  lamp  from  Nushagak  in  South- 
ern Alaska.  It  is  suspended  from  the 
framework  of  the  tent  by  cords.  Oils 
and  fats  from  northern  animals  give  a 
clear  and  steady  likdit,  and  Eskimo  lamps 
are    fro(iuontly    jir.-ii'-rd    l>y   travelers. 


SIX    MILLION"    CUBIC    FOOT    GAS    HOLDER. 


Almost  every  boy  and  girl  has  seen  the  big  tank  near  the  gas  works,  and  most  of  them  have  wondered 
what  was  in  it  and  what  it  is  for.  This  big  tank  is  a  "holder"  in  which  the  gas  is  stored  after  it  is 
manufactured. 

The  giant  holders  are  reservoirs  from  which  gas  is  constantly  being  taken  and  the  quantity  on  storage 
constantly   replenished,   as  the   ordinary   gas   plant    never   ceases   manufacturing   its   product. 

There  is  little  or  no  danger  of  an  interruption  of  the  supply  by  reason  of  accident,  as  gas  plants 
are   always   equipped  with   duplicate   apparatus   for   emergencies. 


HOW  THE   GAS   GETS   INTO  THE   GAS  JET 


299 


When  Illuminating  Gas  Was  Discovered.      How  Does  Gas  Get  Into  the  Gas  Jet  ? 


The  first  practical  demonstration  of 
the  value  of  gas  made  from  coal  for 
lighting  was  made  by  a  Scotchman — 
Robert  Murdock — who  in  1797,  after 
some  years  of  experimenting,  fitted  up 
an  apparatus  in  the  workshop  of  Boul- 
ton  and  W'att,  in  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land, which  successfully  lighted  a  por- 
tion of  that  establishment.  The  ad- 
vantages of  this  kind  of  lighting  were 
so  apparent  that  its  use  was  rapidly 
extended,  although  in  many  instances 
the  people  were  afraid  of  it.  For  a 
time  this  kind  of  lighting  was  confined 
to  street  lights.  One  of  the  first  great 
structures  to  be  lighted  by  gas  was 
Westminster  Bridge  in  London,  and 
great  crowds  gathered  to  watch  the 
burning  jets  nightly.  It  was  difficult 
to  remove  from  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple the  belief  that  the  gas-pipes  were 
filled  with  fire  and  the  jets  were  only 
openings  through  which  the  flame  in 
the  pipes  escaped.  People  sometimes 
touched  the  pipes  expecting  to  find 
them  hot,  and  when  the  pipes  were  put 
in  buildings  they  made  sure  that  they 
were  placed  several  feet  from  the 
walls  lest  the  fire  in  them  set  fire  to 
the  buildings. 

The  use  of  illuminating  gas  for 
lighting  private  houses  developed  quite 
slowly  because  of  this  fear  of  the  fire 
in  the  gas-pipes.  This  was  not  en- 
tirely unwarranted,  however,  because 
at  first  the  plumbers  did  not  know,  as 
they  do  now,  how  to  prevent  leakage 
of  gas  from  the  pipes.  The  methods  of 
joining  the  pipes  were  oftentimes  im- 
perfect and,  not  realizing  the  dangers 
which  would  follow  leaks,  causing  ex- 
plosions, the  workmen  were  often  care- 
less in  installing  the  pipes. 

The  first  American  house  in  which 
gas  was  used  for  lighting  was  the 
home  of  David  Mellvillc  at  Newport, 
H.  I.  Baltimore,  Maryland,  was  the 
first  American  city  to  use  gas  for  light- 
ing.    It  was  introduced  there  in   1.S17. 


If  you  hold  a  cool  drinking  glass 
over  a  burning  gas  jet  for  a  moment, 
a  film  of  moisture  will  form  on  the 
inside  of  the  glass  and  remain  until 
the  tumbler  becomes  warm,  and  then 
disappear.  Now,  then,  you  will  re- 
member that  water  is  a  mixture  of  oxy- 
gen and  hydrogen,  and  that  when  hy- 
drogen is  burned  in  the  air,  water  is 
formed.  It  is  also  true  that  whenever 
water  is  formed  by  burning  anything, 
hydrogen  is  present  in  it.  You  see, 
therefore,  that  the  gas  used  for  lighting 
purposes  must  contain  hydrogen. 

Let  us  now  learn  something  more 
about  what  gas  is  made  of.  Wet  a 
piece  of  glass  with  a  little  fresh  lime 
water  and  hold  this  over  the  lighted 
gas  jet.  In  a  few  moments  a  change 
takes  place  in  the  water.  The  water 
turns  somewhat  milky.  This  indicates 
the  presence  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  and 
the  formation  of  carbonic  acid  gas, 
when  burning  is  going  on,  means  the 
presence  of  carbon. 

From  these  two  experiments  we 
gather  that  the  gas  in  the  jet  contains 
hydrogen  and  carbon.  All  kinds  of 
illuminating  gas  contain  these  two  sub- 
stances. Sometimes  there  are  small 
quantities  of  other  substances  present, 
but  the  value  of  gas  for  lighting  de- 
pends on  hydrogen  and  carbon. 

We  have  already  learned  about  hy- 
drogen, but  it  would  be  well  to  re-learn 
about  carbon. 

Carbon  is  an  element,  and  an  ex- 
tremely important  one,  for  a  large  part 
of  the  comi)Osition  of  every  living  thing 
is  carbon.  It  is  found  in  more  com- 
pounds than  any  other  element.  Almost 
pure  carbon  can  easily  be  obtained  by 
heating  a  ]Mece  of  wood,  in  a  covered 
utensil,  until  it  is  turned  into  charcoal. 
Charcoal,  which  is  black,  is  composed 
almost  entirely  of  carbon.  It  is  a  very 
interesting  product  in  all  ways ;  in  con- 
nection with  gas  we  are  particularly 
interested  in  the  fact  that  carbon  will 
burn  when  heated  in  the  air  or  in 
oxygen. 

(harcoal  is  very  much  like  hard  coal, 
both    bcjng    formed    in    practically    the 


300 


WHERE  THE  GAS   IS  TAKEN   FROM  THE  COAL 


GENERATOR    HOUSE    AND    IJS-FT.    STACK. 

In  the  process  of  gas  making,  coal  is  placed  in  the  generator  and  heated  to  an  incandescent  state, 
then  from  the  top  or  bottom  steam  is  admitted  and  forced  through  the  heated  coal,  producing  a  crude 
water  gas  which  is  passed  on  to  the  carbureter.  In  this  shell  enriching  oil  is  produced,  but  as  the 
oil  and  the  water  gas  do  not  effectually  unite,  they  are  passed  on  to  the  superheater,  where,  as  its  name 
implies,    they  are  subjected   to  a  high   temperature  which  thoroughly  gasifies  them  into  a  permanent  gas. 


AN    INTERIOR    VIEW   OF   GENERATOR   HOUSE. 
•  Pictures   on   Gas   Manufacture   by   courtesy   of   the   Consolidated   Gas,    Electric    Light   and   Power   Co. 
of  Baltimore. 


ILLUMINATING   GAS  MUST   BE   SCRUBBED 


301 


.SH.Wl.NO    bCKUliliKKh. 


After  passing  into  the  scrubbers  the  gas  is  cooled,  passed  into  the  scrubbers,  and  by 
contact  with  wooden  slat  trays,  made  up  like  screens;  a  large  portion  of  the  tar  is  removed 
from  the  gas,  the  tar  passing  off  to  large  receptacles. 


302 


HOW    ILLUMINATING  GAS    IS   MADE 


same  way.  Ages  of  years  ago  many 
large  forests  of  trees  were  buried 
under  a  layer  of  soil  and  rocks,  during 
changes  that  occurred  in  the  earth's 
surface,  and  the  hot  inside  earth  slowly 
heated  the  wood,  until  almost  nothing 
was  left  but  the  carbon. 

Soft  coal  was  formed  in  much  the 
same  manner,  but  the  process  was  not 
so  completely  finished.  Alixed  with  the 
carbon  in  soft  coal  we  find  quite  a  good 
deal  of  other  substances,  of  which  hy- 
drogen forms  the  principal  part.  This 
is  what  makes  soft  coal  valuable  in  the 
making  of  illuminating  gas. 

When  soft  coal  is  heated  in  a  closed 
receptacle  a  gas  is  formed  which  will 
burn.  To  show  this  we  have  only  to 
take  an  ordinary  clay  pipe,  put  a  little 
piece  of  coal  in  the  bowl,  close  the  top 
with  wet  clay,  and  put  the  bowl  part 
of  the  pipe  in  the  fire.  When  it  is  quite 
hot,  a  gas  will  be  found  coming  out 
of  the  stem  of  the  pipe,  which  will, 
when  lighted,  burn. 


The  Story  In  a  Gas  Jet. 

Soft  coal  is  heated  in  large  tubes  of 
fire  clay  called  retorts,  and  the  gas  that 
is  formed  is  then  collected  in  a  large 
tank  and  sent  through  pipes  to  our 
homes  after  being  purified.  The  part 
of  the  coal  that  is  left  consists  largely 
of  carbon  and  is  what  we  call  coke. 

While  the  gas  that  comes  directly 
from  coal  will  burn  if  lighted,  it  is  not 
a  desirable  gas  to  burn  in  our  homes, 
because  it  contains  a  number  of  sub- 
stances that  should  be  eliminated  before 
it  is  used  for  lighting. 


How  the  Gas  Is  Purified. 

From  the  clay  retorts  the  gas  passes 
through  horizontal  pipes  containing 
water.  This  cools  it  and  takes  out  of 
it  most  of  the  tar  and  water  vapor 
that  are  driven  ofif  with  the  gas  when 
formed.  These  substances  settle  in  the 
water.  The  gas  then  goes  through  a 
series  of  curved  pipes,  which  are  air 
cooled.  These  pipes  constitute  what 
is  known  as  an  atmospheric  condenser. 


From  these  the  gas  goes  into  a  series 
of  receptacles  containing  wooden  slat 
trays,  made  up  like  screens.  These  re- 
ceptacles are  called  the  scrubbers,  and 
they  take  out  of  the  gas  the  last  traces 
of  tar  and  some  of  the  other  com- 
pounds found  present.  The  removal  of 
the  sulphur  is  very  important,  for 
burning  sulphur  gives  off  a  gas  which 
is  not  only  extremely  impure  to  breathe, 
but  also  injurious  to  the  health. 

From  the  scrubbers  the  gas  goes  on 
through  pipes  to  the  purifiers — boxes 
v.'hich  contain  wood  shavings  coated 
with  iron  rust  upon  which  the  sulphur 
is  deposited  by  chemical  action.  At  the 
same  time  the  lime  absorbs  a  small 
quantity  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  is 
formed  with  the  other  gases.  From 
the  purifiers  the  gas  passes  into  the 
great  iron  tanks,  in  which  it  is  stored 
until  needed. 

The  gas  in  the  tanks  consists  chiefly 
of  hydrogen,  a  number  of  compounds 
of  hydrogen  and  carbon,  and  a  small 
amount  of  a  compound  of  carbon  and 
oxygen  containing  less  oxygen  than 
carbonic  acid  gas,  known  as  carbon 
monoxide.  The  hydrogen  and  carbon 
monoxide  burn  with  a  very  pale  flame, 
which  gives  but  little  light  and  much 
heat.  The  light-giving  quality  of  the 
gas  is  found  in  the  compounds  of  car- 
bon and  hydrogen.  W'^hen  these  burn, 
the  particles  of  carbon  are  heated  white 
hot  and  glow  very  brightly,  making  a 
luminous  flame. 

There  are,  of  course,  some  impurities 
in  the  purified  gas.  These  are  com- 
pounds containing  sulphur  and  am- 
monia. The  quantities  of  these  sub- 
stances, however,  are  so  small  that  they 
are  harmless ;  but  the  compounds  taken 
out  in  the  process  of  purifying  the  gas 
are  saved,  as  considerable  use  is  made 
of  them.  The  water  used  for  washing 
the  gas  is  heavily  charged  with  am- 
monia and  is,  in  fact,  the  chief  source 
of  the  ammonia  sold  by  druggists. 

In  addition  to  coal  gas  made  in  the 
way  just  described,  there  is  another 
form  of  illuminating  gas,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  which  coal  is  indirectly  em- 
ployed. This  gas,  known  as  water  gas, 
because  it  is  formed  by  the  decompo- 


HOW  THE  IMPURITIES  ARE  TAKEN  FROM  THE  GAS 


303 


PURIFVIXG    BOXES. 

The  principal  impurity  to  be  removed  is  sulphur,  and  this  is  accomplished  by  passing  the  gas  through 
large  iron  rectangular  boxes  filled  with  wood  shavings  coated  with  iron  rust  upon  which  the  sulphur  is 
deposited    by    chemical    action. 


I  ■.',     III-.       I  !■[    .     1 


I   \\       I   %    M  .      M  i    il'KS. 


304 


HOW  THE   METER   MEASURES  THE  GAS 


y  ^^^m 


Fi/  1 


Fi^    3 


Fi(J.  ^. 


f;5i  4 


Gas  first  enters  inlet  pipe  A  (Fig.  3)  passing  along  Ai  into  covered  valve  chamber  B  up 
through  orifice  O.  It  then  passes  down  through  two  of  the  valve  ports  at  the  same  time,  ports 
C  and  Di  (Fig.  2).  Before  Ci  (Fig.  3)  has  gotten  to  its  extreme  opening,  the  valve  on  the 
opposite  side  has  moved  to  allow  gas  to  pass  down  port  D.  On  everj^  quarter  turn  of  tangent 
P  ^one  port  is  opening  to  receivl  gas  which  passes  down  through  the  valve  ports  into  the 
chambers  below  (see  arrows  on  Fig.  2),  which  shows  the  gas  passing  into  chamber  F  Ihe 
pressure  being  greater  on  the  outside  of  the  diaphragm,  forces  the  diaphragni  inward  and  expels 
the  gas  from  the  inside  of  D2  through  D  and  passes  over  the  cross-bar  into  the  fork  channel 
(see  Fi-  I).  On  the  other  side  gas  is  passing  down  through  port  Di  (Fig  2)  entering  diaphragm 
D3  the  pressure  being  greater  on  the  inside  of  D3  therefore  forces  the  diaphragm  outward  and 
expels  the  gas  from  the  outside  of  diaphragm  Dj  out  through  port  Ci  into  fork  channel  same 
as  shm^-n  in  (Fig.  i).  All  exhaust  gas  from  the  chambers  below  is  checked  from  entering  the 
Sambe^S  by  the  slide  valve  G  and  Gi  (Fig.  2).  Instead  of  passing  into  chamber  5  it  passes 
overthe  cross-bars  between  DiEi  and  CiEi  into  the  fork  channels,  then  to  outlet  pipe  N 
(Fig.  3)  to  house  pipe. 

Note  :  All  gas  registered  must  pass  through  outlet  A . 


HOW  THE  LIGHT  GETS  INTO  THE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT  BULB     305 


sition  of  water,  is  produced  by  passing 
steam  over  red  hot  carbon,  in  the  form 
of  hard  coal  or  coke.  When  this  is 
done,  the  hydrogen  in  the  steam  is  set 
free  and  the  oxygen  combines  chem- 
ically with  the  carbon,  to  form  the  car- 
bon monoxide,  that  was  mentioned  as 
being  present,  in  small  proportions,  in 
ordinary  coal  gas.  This  carbon  mon- 
oxide is  poisonous,  if  much  of  it  is 
breathed,  and  as  it  has  no  odor  it  is 
difficult  to  detect  when  escaping.  A 
number  of  deaths  have  resulted  from 
water  gas  for  this  reason,  and  in  some 
states  the  laws  forbid  its  use  for  light- 
ing purposes. 

When  water  gas  is  used  it  must  be 
enriched  with  some  other  substances 
before  it  will  yield  much  light.  You 
have  already  learned  that  neither  hy- 
drogen nor  carbon  monoxide  burns 
with  a  bright  flame,  and  you  will  see 
that  water  gas  must  have  something 
added  to  it  to  fit  it  for  lighting  pur- 
poses. The  substance  usually  added 
is  the  vapor  of  some  light,  volatile  oil, 
like  gasoline.  This  vapor  is  composed 
of  compounds  of  carbon  and  hydrogen, 
and  when  it  is  mixed  with  the  water 
gas  it  forms  a  gas  that  yields  a  very 
satisfactory  light;  and  that  may  be  pro- 
duced more  cheaply  than  common  coal 
gas. 

There  remains  one  more  form  of  il- 
luminating gas  which  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  much  discussion  in  recent  years, 
namely,  acetylene.  This  is  a  compound 
of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  in  which 
there  is  twelve  times  as  much  carbon 
as  hydrogen.  It  has  not  been  discov- 
ered recently,  for  it  was  known  early 
in  the  nineteenth  century,  but  its  pos- 
sible use  for  lighting  purposes  was  not 
considered  then. 

Attention  was  directed  to  it  a  few 
years  ago  by  the  (hscovery  of  a  sub- 
stance callcfl  calcium  carbide.  This  is 
a  comjKjund  of  carjjon  and  the  metal 
calcium,  formed  by  heating  to  a  very 
high  tem])erature  a  mixture  of  coal  and 
h'me.  It  has  the  peculiar  property  of 
'1  (composing,  when  treated  with  water. 
The  calcium  present  combines  with  the 
oxygen  and  half  the  hydrogen  of  the 
water,   to    form    commfjn    slackcc]    lime 


or  calcium  hydrate,  while  the  carbon 
and  the  remainder  of  the  hydrogen  com- 
bine to  form  acetylene  gas. 

The  gas  formed  in  this  way  needs 
no  purifications  before  burning;  it  can 
be  produced  in  small  generators,  and 
the  production  can  be  checked  at  any 
time.  When  burned  in  the  proper 
form  of  burner  it  yields  the  brightest 
of  all  gas  flames.  For  these  reasons  it 
is  adapted  for  use  in  small  villages  and 
for  lighting  single  houses.  It  is  also 
frequently  used  in  magic  lanterns, 
where  a  strong  and  steady  light  is 
necessary.  But  the  cost  of  producing 
acetylene  in  large  quantities  is  greater 
than  that  of  coal  gas,  and  it  seems  ex- 
tremely unlikely  that  it  will  ever  be 
much  used  for  lighting  large  cities  and 
towns. 


How  the  Light  Gets  Into  the  Electric 
light  Bulb. 

The  incandescent  lamp  was  invented 
in  1879  ^I'ld  the  patents  were  granted 
to  Thomas  A.  Edison.  There  were, 
however,  a  number  of  electrical  men 
who  were  working  on  the  idea  at  this 
time  who  deserve  a  great  deal  of  credit 
for  developing  the  lamp. 

The  incandescent  lamp,  which  is  used 
chiefly  for  house  lighting,  consists  of  a 
glass  bulb  from  which  the  air  has  been 
exhausted  by  pumps  and  chemical 
processes — in  which  there  is  a  thin  fila- 
ment of  tungsten  metal  wound  on  what 
is  called  an  arbor  (as  shown  in  Fig.  4). 
This  filament  opposes  high  resistance 
to  the  passage  of  the  current  of  elec- 
tricity, and,  consequently,  is  heated  to 
incandescence  when  a  current  passes 
through  it.  The  removal  of  the  air 
from  the  bulb  prevents  the  tungsten 
metal  from  burning  up,  as  it  would  do 
if  oxygen  were  j^resent. 

IMie  filaments  of  the  first  lam])s  were 
made  of  vegetable  fibre.  The  next  ile- 
velo])ment  was  the  cellulose  i)roc(,'ss, 
which  is  still  used  in  r;ni)()n  and  niet.il- 
lized  lamps,  altliongh  a  number  of  ])n)e- 
esses  are  used  miw  which  improve  the 
filament  considerably. 

The  discovery  that  tungsten  metal 
could    be    used    in    incandesetiit    lamps 


306 


THE  DEVELOPMENT   OF   INCANDESCENT  LAMPS 


Edison's   first   lamp   with   a 
filament  of  bamboo  fibre. 


The  carbon  lamp — the  old-  Standard  Mazda  lamp — the 
est  form  of  incandescent  highest  development  of  the 
lamp.  incandescent    lamp. 


The  Tantalum  lamp  de- 
veloped just  before  the 
Mazda    lamp. 


Improved  Mazda  lamp  for 
lighting  large  areas— the  most 
efficient  lamp   ever  made. 


WHAT  X=RAYS  ARE 


307 


was  made  in  1906.  The  first  tungsten 
lamp  manufactured  in  America  was 
made  in  1907. 

The  filaments  of  the  first  tungsten 
lamps  were  composed  of  two  or  three 
short  pieces  of  wire.  In  1910,  however, 
a  lamp  with  a  continuous  tungsten  fila- 
ment was  invented  which  increased  the 
strength  of  the  lamp  wonderfully. 

Mazda  is  a  trade  name  given  to  all 
metal  filament  lamps  made  by  the  prom- 
inent American  lamp  manufacturers. 

The  reason  that  the  Mazda  lamp  is 
so  much  more  efficient  than  the  carbon 
filament  lamp  is  because  the  tungsten 
filament  can  be  burned  at  a  much  higher 
temperature  than  the  present  carbon 
filament,  without  seriously  blackening 
the  bulb. 

How  Does  an  Arc  Light  Burn? 

In  the  arc  light  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity is  made  to  leap  across  from  the 
tip  of  one  rod  of  carbon  to  the  tip  of 
another  that  is  held  a  short  distance 
from  the  first.  In  passihg  across  the 
current  does  not  follow  a  straight  path, 
but  makes  a  curve,  or  arc,  whence 
comes  the  name  "arc  light." 

In  this  form  of  light  the  carbons  are 
not  enclosed  in  a  space  from  which  air 
is  excluded,  consequently  there  is  some 
destruction  of  the  carbon.  The  light 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  air  between 
the  tips  of  the  carbon  rods  opposes  a 
high  degree  of  resistance  to  the  cur- 
rent, so  that  the  rods  become  intensely 
hot  at  their  tips.  The  high  degree  of 
heat  causes  a  slow  burning  of  the  car- 
bon at  the  tips,  and  the  small  particles 
that  burn  are  heated  white  hot  before 
they  are  consumed,  thus  producing 
light. 

In  order  to  keep  the  light  from  an 
arc  light  uniform  in  strength,  it  is 
necessary  to  keep  the  tips  of  the  carbon 
rods  always  the  same  distance  ai:)art. 
This  is  practically  impossible,  and,  as 
a  result,  the  arc  light  docs  not  produce 
light  that  is  well  adai)tcrl  for  reading 
or  for  other  ])ur])Oscs  that  ref|uire  con- 
stant use  of  the  eyes.  The  light  i)ro- 
duced  by  the  arc  light  is  very  ])Owerful, 
however,  and  for  that  reason  it  is  much 
used  for  street  lighting. 


What  Are  X-Rays? 

It  was  discovered  by  Professor  Con- 
rad Roentgen  in  1895,  that  if  a  cur- 
rent of  electricity  be  passed  through 
a  certain  form  of  glass  bulb,  from  which 
most  of  the  air  has  been  exhausted,  a 
disturbance  is  produced  in  the  ether 
that  bears  some  resemblance  to  light 
waves.  For  want  of  a  better  name  to 
give  to  a  disturbance  which  was  not 
well  understood.  Roentgen  called  his 
discovery  the  X-Ray,  but  it  is  now  fre- 
quently called  in  his  honor  the  Roentgen 
ray.  The  nature  of  this  disturbance  is 
not  yet  known,  but  as  it  does  not  afifect 
the  eye  it  is  not  light.  These  rays  are 
produced  with  a  glass  vacuum  tube  and 
a  battery  from  which  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity is  sent  through  the  tube.  The 
wires  of  the  battery  are  connected  with 
two  electrodes,  one  of  which  consists 
of  a  concave  disk  of  aluminum,  and  the 
latter  of  a  flat  disk  of  platinum.  The 
X-rays  are  discharged  in  straight  lines 
as  shown  in  the  figure.  The  most  strik- 
ing properties  of  the  X-ray  is  its  power 
to  penetrate  m_any  substances  that  are 
impermeable  to  light.  All  vegetable 
substances,  and  the  flesh  of  animals, 
are  penetrated  by  it  very  readily.  Glass, 
metals,  bones,  and  mineral  substances 
generally  are  opaque  to  it!  Conse- 
quently, when  a  limb,  or  even  the  body 
of  an  animal,  is  exposed  to  X-rays  they 
pass  through  the  fleshy  parts,  but  are 
stopped  by  the  bones.  Certain  sub- 
stances have  the  property  of  glowing, 
or  becoming  fluorescent,  when  exposed 
to  the  X-ray,  and  when  screens  of  paper 
are  coated  with  these  substances  they 
form  a  convenient  means  of  detecting 
the  presence  of  X-rays.  By  holding 
the  hand  between  a  tube  that  is  giving 
off  X-rays  and  a  screen  of  this  kind, 
the  bones  of  the  hand  will  be  outlined 
in  shadow  on  the  screen,  and  the  rest 
of  the  surface  will  glow  with  a  greenish 
light.  If  a  bullet  or  other  piece  of 
metal  has  become  imbedded  in  the  body, 
it  may  easily  be  located,  if  it  is  not  in 
a  bone,  and  the  extent  of  an  injury 
to  a  bone  or  a  joint  may  be  plainly 
shown.  l'V)r  this  reason  the  X-ray  is 
now   widely  used  by  surgeons. 


yus 


HOW   MAN    LEARNED  TO   FIGHT   FIRE 


How  Man  Learned  to  Fight  Fire. 

When  you  see  the  modern  fire  engine 
racing  through  the  streets,  gongs  ring- 
ing, with  the  firemen  hanging  on  and 
the  poHce  clearing  the  track,  you  should 
remember  that  it  has  taken  man  a  long 
time  to  learn  as  much  as  he  has  about 
fighting  fire. 

No  sooner  did  man  learn  to  make  fire 
than  he  found  it  necessary  to  learn  how 
to  put  it  out. 

The  first  fire  apparatus  of  record  is 
found  in  Rome.  The  Gauls  burned  the 
citv  in  3'>0  !>.  C,  each  citizen  was  or- 
dered to  keep  in  his  house  a  "machine 
for  extinguishing  fire."  This  consisted 
of  a  syringe. 

The  first  record  of  an  actual  machine 
for  putting  out  fire  is  by  Hero  of  Alex- 
andria. This  contrivance,  a  "siphon 
used  in  conflagrations."  was  used  in 
Egypt  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  Christ. 

The  first  record  of  what  we  would 
call  a  fire  department  is  also  found  in 
Rome.  A  disastrous  fire,  occurring  in 
the  reign  oi  Augustus  called  his  atten- 
tion to  the  benefit  of  a  regular  fire  bri- 
gade would  bring.  So  he  organized 
a  fire  department.  It  consisted  of 
seven  companies  of  a  thousand  men 
each. 

The  first  real  fire  engines  were  used 
in  1633  at  a  big  fire  on  London  Bridge. 
The  first  fire"  hose  was  invented  by 
the  two  \^an  der  Heydes  in  1672.  One 
of  the  earliest  engines  used  consisted 
of  a  tank  drawn  by  two  horses,  w^hich 
threw  a  stream  an  inch  in  diameter  to 
a  height  of  eighty  feet.  An  improved 
engine  was  invented  in  1721  by  News- 
ham,  of  London,  and  the  first  engine 
used  in  the  United  States  was  made  by 
Xewsham.  The  first  steam  fire  engine 
was  invented  by  John  Braithwaite,  of 
London,  in  1829. 

Fire  alarms  came  into  use  in  medieval 
times.  It  was  the  custom,  in  many  of 
the  towns  to  have  a  watchman  stationed 
on  a  high  building  whose  duty  it  was 
to  look  for  fires.  As  soon  as  he  saw 
one,  he  gave  warning  by  blowing  a 
horn,  firing  a  gun,  or  ringing  a  bell. 


The  first  London  fire  department  con- 
sisted of  ten  men  of  each  ward. 

The  first  nnmicipal  American  fire 
department  was  created  in  Boston  in 
1678.  The  fire  engine  was  a  hand  pump 
bought  in  England. 

The  first  leather  fire  hose  was  made 
in  America  in  1808  in  Philadelphia. 
Rubber  hose  was  first  made  in  England 
at  about  1820. 


How  Did  Man  Learn  to  Cook  His  Food? 

The  primitive  man  lived  on  raw  food 
— raw  flesh,  roots,  fruits  and  nuts. 
There  must  have  been  a  time  when  he 
lived  thus  because  there  was  a  Ume 
when  he  had  no  fires  and  no  knowledge 
of  how  to  make  a  fire.  There  are  no 
records,  however,  to  show  when  man 
learned  that  cooked  food  was  best. 

It  must  have  come  about  almost  si- 
multaneously with  his  knowledge  of 
fire,  for  the  art  of  cooking  goes 
back  to  the  first  knowledge  of  fire. 
We  do  not  know  either  how  man 
learned  to  make  a  fire.  The  earliest 
nations  of  which  we  have  any  record 
seem  to  have  been  acquainted  with  fire 
and  certain  methods  for  producing  it. 
Xot  onl}^  one  but  all  early  nations  seem 
to  have  been  possessed  of  this  knowl- 
edge. Occasionally  travellers  have  re- 
ported that  people  have  been  founa  who 
w^ere  unacquainted  with  either  fire  or 
cooking,  but  investigation  has  always 
proven  these  reports  unauthentic.  Cook- 
ery has  always  been  found  in  practice 
where  people  knew  about  fire. 

It  is  strange  how  man  has  lost  track 
of  the  beginning  of  his  knowledge  of 
fire  and  cookery,  because  fire  represents 
the  beginning  of  man's  culture  and 
cookery  goes  hand  in  hand  with  it. 

There  are  many  legendary  accounts 
of  how  man  learned  the  value  of  cooked 
food,  all  of  w^hich  are  based  upon  the 
accidental  burning  or  roasting  of  ani- 
mals or  birds.  Perhaps,  therefore, 
Charles  Lamb's  "Roast  Pig"  story, 
which  we  read  with  much  laughter  in 
our  school  readers,  was  quite  accurate 
from  a  historical  standpoint.     Accord- 


HOW  MAN   LEARNED   TO   COOK  HIS    FOOD 


309 


ing  to  the  story  a  man's  house  burned 
and  he  cried  more  over  the  fate  of  his 
pet  pig  than  about  the  loss  of  his  house. 
He  kept  his  pig-  in  the  house  you  will 
remember  and  as  soon  as  the  fire  died 
away  he  rushed  into  the  debris  to  look 
for  his  pet  pig,  hoping  still  to  rescue 
him.  He  found  him  in  a  corner  and 
made  haste  to  pick  him  up  and  carry 
him  into  the  open  air.  But  the  poor 
pig  had  been  roasted  to  a  turn  and  was 
still  hot.  The  man's  fingers  went  right 
into  the  well  done  roast  pig  and  were 
burned.  With  a  cry  he  withdrew  his 
fingers  and  put  them  into  his  mouth  to 
blow  on  them  and  thus  he  secured  his 
first  taste  of  roast  pig,  which  he  found 
so  much  to  his  taste  that  he  repeated  the 
operation  of  licking  his  fingers. 

While  this  is  but  a  story,  it  is  quite 
likely  historically  correct  as  to  this  dis- 
covery of  the  value  of  cooked  food 
to  some  of  the  early  nations.  No  doubt 
Fire  and  Cookery  were  developed  to- 
gether. 

When  man  had  learned  to  make  fire, 
he  found  that  it  often  got  beyond  his 
control.  Here  and  there  he  would  set 
the  woods  on  fire  quite  without  inten- 
tion perhaps,  but  with  damaging  results. 
He  would  watch  the  conflagration  and, 
when  it  was  passed,  he  would  find  the 
baked  bodies  of  deer  or  other  animals 
which  had  been  overcome  by  the  fire 
and  learned  that  baked  meats  were  good 
to  the  taste  and  more  easily  digestible 
than  raw  meats. 

Why  Does  a  Sponge  Hold  Water? 

A  sponge  will  hold  water  because  it 
has,  on  account  of  the  plan  on  which 
it  is  grown  the  power  of  capillary  at- 
traction. The  sponge  is  made  up  of  little 
hair  like  tubes.  If  you  take  a  glass 
tube,  open  at  both  ends  and  immerse 
one  end  in  a  vessel  of  water,  you  will 
find  that  the  water  will  rise  in  the  tube 
to  a  level  higher  than  the  surface  of 
the  water  in  the  vessel.  The  smaller 
the  hole  through  the  glass  tube,  the 
higher  the  water  will  rise.  This  is 
caused  by  the  cohesion  of  the  water 
against  the  inside  surface  of  the  hole 
in  the  tube  and  causes  a  i)iill  upward. 


The  water  is  pulled  up  into  the  tube  be- 
cause the  surface  of  the  tube  has  a 
greater  cohesive  attraction  for  the 
water  than  for  the  air  which  was  in  it 
and  the  air  is  forced  out  partly.  Some 
liquids,  such  as  mercury  will  not  rise 
in  the  same  way,  but  is  depressed  in  a 
glass  tube,  since  it  cannot  adhere  to 
glass.  Mercury  however  will  run  or 
rise  in  a  tin  tube,  just  as  water  in  a 
glass  tube,  because  it  adheres  to  the  tin. 
Now  a  sponge  is  merely  a  lot  of 
capillary  tubes  which  have  the  same 
power  of  pulling  up  the  water  as  the 
glass  tube.  The  tubes  in  a  sponge  are 
so  fine  that  the  water  will  rise  to  the 
entire  length  of  the  tubes.  In  addition, 
this  adhesive  quality  of  water  to  the  in- 
side of  the  tubes  in  the  sponge  is  so 
strong,  that  the  sponge  can  be  taken 
entirely  out  of  the  water  and  the  water 
will  remain   in   it. 

Why  Is  the  Right  Hand  Stronger  Than 
the  Left? 

The  right  hand  is  stronger  than  the 
left  only  in  case  you  are  right-handed. 
If  you  have  the  habit  of  being  left- 
handed,  your  left  hand  becomes 
stronger.  If  you  are  truly  ambidex- 
trous, your  strength  will  be  the  same 
in  both  hands. 

We  get  our  strength  by  moving  the 
various  parts  of  the  body,  i.  e.,  by  using 
them.  When  a  little  baby  stretches  his 
arms  and  legs  and  kicks,  he  is  only 
exercising  naturally,  making  the  blood 
circulate. 

You  can  prove  that  the  fact  that 
your  right  hand  is  stronger  than  your 
left  because  of  the  greater  use  or  exer- 
cise you  give  it,  by  tying  your  right  arm 
close  to  your  side  and  keeping  it  in 
that  condition  without  using  it  for  sev- 
eral weeks.  When  you  remove  the 
bands  which  held  it  tight,  you  will  find 
your  arm  has  lost  its  strength  and  that 
now  your  left  hand  is  stronger.  If. 
however,  you  are  left-handed  and  lie 
that  hand  down  for  the  same  length 
of  time,  your  right  hand  would  be  the 
stronger.  This  shows  that  the  strength 
we  have  in  our  arms  and  legs,  and 
other  parts  of  the  body,  is  developed 
by  using  them  ,'ind  giving  Ihem  rational 


310 


WHY    A   BARBER   POLE    HAS   STRIPES 


exercise.  Of  course,  it  is  possible  to 
over-use  a  part  of  the  body,  but  you 
will  notice  that  nature  always  gives  us 
a  warning  by  making  us  tired  before 
we  come  to  the  point  where  further 
use  of  that  particular  part  of  the  body 
would  cause   injury. 

Why  Do  My  Muscles  Get  Sore  When  I 
Play  Ball  In  the  Spring? 

They  do  this  because  you  have  prob- 
ably not  been  exercising  the  particular 
muscles  which  you  employ  in  throwing 
a  ball  enough  in  the  winter  to  keep  you 
in  good  condition.  Muscles  which  have 
been  developed  through  use  or  work 
need  more  work  to  keep  them  in  con- 
dition. In  a  sense  certain  of  the  mus- 
cles w'hich  you  employ  in  playing  ball 
have  been  treated  during  the  winter 
very  much  as  if  you  had  tied  them 
down,  as  we  suggested  you  might  do 
with  your  arm.  You  have  not  been 
using  them — they  have  not  been  doing 
enough  work,  and  they  begin  to  lose 
their  strength  when  for  any  period  they 
have  not  been  used  enough.  The  sore- 
ness that  you  feel  is  the  natural  con- 
dition that  arises  when  you  begin  to  use 
a  muscle  that  has  been  idle  for  some 
time. 

Why  Does  a  Barber's  Pole  Have  Stripes? 

In  early  years  the  barber  not  only  cut 
hair  and  shaved  people,  but  he  was 
also  a  surgeon.  He  was  a  surgeon  to 
the  extent  that  he  bled  people.  In  early 
times  our  knowledge  of  surgery  was 
practically  limited  to  blood  letting.  A 
great  many  of  the  ailments  were  attri- 
buted to  too  much  blood  in  the  body, 
and  when  anything  got  wrong  with  a 
man  or  woman,  the  first  thing  they 
thought  of  was  to  reduce  the  amount  of 
blood  in  the  body  by  taking  some  of  it 
out. 

The  town  barber  was  the  man  who 
did  this  for  people  and  his  pole  repre- 
sented the  sign  of  his  business. 

The  round  ball  at  the  top  which  was 
generally  gilded  represents  the  barber- 
ing  end  of  the  business.  It  stood  for 
the  brass  basin  which  the  barber  used 
to  prepare  lather  for  shaving  customers. 


The  pole  itself  represents  the  staff 
which  people  who  were  having  bictod 
taken  out  of  their  bodies  held  during 
the  operation.  The  two  spiral  ribbons, 
one  red  and  one  white,  which  are 
painted  spirally  on  the  pole,  represented 
the  bandages.  The  white  one  stood  for 
the  bandage  which  was  put  on  before 
the  blood  was  taken  out  and  the  red  one 
the  bandage  which  was  used  for  bind- 
ing up  the  wound  when  the  operation 
was  completed. 

How  Was  the  Flag  Made? 

The  design  of  our  flag  was  outlined 
in  a  congressional  resolution  passed  on 
June  14,  1777,  which  stated  "that  the 
Hag  of  the  thirteen  United  States  be 
thirteen  alternate  stripes  red  and  white ; 
that  the  union  be  thirteen  stars,  white 
in  a  blue  field,  representing  the  new 
constellation."  After  \'ermont  and 
Kentucky  had  been  admitted  to  the 
Union,  Congress  made  a  decree  in  1794 
that  after  May  1,  1795,  "the  flag  of  the 
United  States  be  fifteen  stripes  alternate 
red  and  white  and  that  the  Union  be 
fifteen  stars  white  on  a  blue  field."  This 
made  the  stars  and  stripes  again  equal 
and  it  was  the  plan  to  add  a  new  stripe 
and  a  new  star  for  each  new  state  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union.  Very  soon,  how- 
ever, it  was  realized  that  the  flag  would 
be  too  large  if  we  kept  on  adding  one 
stripe  for  each  new  state  admitted  to 
the  Union,  so  on  April  4,  1818,  Con- 
gress passed  a  resolution  reducing  the 
number  of  stripes  to  thirteen  once  more 
to  represent  the  original  colonies,  and 
to  add  only  a  new  star  to  the  field  when 
a  new  state  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 
At  this  time  there  were  twenty  states  in 
the  Union.  Since  that  time  none  of 
the  flags  of  the  United  States  have  more 
than  thirteen  stripes  while  a  new  star 
has  been  added  for*  each  state  until 
now  we  have  forty-eight  stars,  repre- 
senting the  forty-eight  states. 

Why    Are    Some    Guns    Called    Gatling 
Guns? 

A  gatling  gun  is  a  kind  of  gun  in- 
vented   bv   Richard    Jordan   Gatling  In 


WHY   IT   IS    CALLED  A   HONEYMOON 


311 


1861  and  1862  and  so  it  receives  its 
name  from  its  inventor.  The  original 
gatling  gun  had  ten  parallel  barrels  and 
was  capable  of  firing  1,000  shots  per 
minute  when  operated  by  hand  power. 
It  was  discharged  by  turning  a  crank 
and  would  shoot  in  proportion  to  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  crank  was 
turned.  It  was  at  first  not  a  huge  suc- 
cess but  has  from  time  to  time  been 
improved  so  that  the  crank  is  now 
turned  by  electric  power  and  about  fif- 
teen hundred  shots  per  minute  can  be 
fired  with  it. 


How  Did  Hobson's  Choice  Originate? 

As  used  today,  this  expression  means 
a  choice  with  only  one  thing  to  choose. 
Tobias  Hobson  was  a  livery  stable 
keeper  at  Cambridge,  England,  during 
the  reign  of  King  Charles  I.  He  kept 
a  stable  of  forty  horses  which  he  hired 
out  by  the  hour  or  day,  and  was  famous 
in  his  day  so  far  as  a  livery  stable 
keeper  could  be. 

When  you  went  to  Hobson  to  hire  a 
horse,  you  had  the  privilege  of  looking 
over  all  the  horses  in  the  stable  to  de- 
ride which  one  you  would  like  to  drive, 
but  he  always  made  you  take  the  one 
in  the  stall  nearest  the  door.  In  this 
way  all  the  horses  in  the  stable  were 
worked  in  turn  and  while  you  might 
pretend  to  choose  your  own  horse,  you 
really  had  no  choice — you  had  to  take 
the  one  nearest  the  door  or  none.  As 
soon  as  a  horse  was  hired,  the  other 
horses  in  the  stable  were  moved  up, 
each  one  to  the  stall  next  towards  the 
door  so  there  was  always  a  horse  in 
the  stall  nearest  the  door. 

Why  Do  They  Call  It  a  Honeymoon? 

The  word  Honeymoon  which  is  com- 
yionly  used  to  clescriljc  the  first  few 
weeks  after  marriage,  has  always  meant 
the  first  month  or  moon  after  marriage, 
but  does  not  have  any  reference  to  llu- 
month  or  moon  excepting  as  that  de- 
scribes a  certain  period  f»f  time. 

The  wr)rd  ririginated  in  an  f>ld  cMistom 
quite    common    among    ncwlv    marricfl 


couples  among  the  ancient  Teutons  of 
drinking  a  kind  of  wine  made  from 
honey  during  the  first  thirty  days  after 
being  married. 

In  these  days  newly  married  couples 
generally  take  a  trip  away  from  home 
for  a  short  or  longer  period  after  their 
wedding  day  and  this  is  called  the 
honeymoon  whether  it  is  but  a  few  days 
or  three  months  or  more.  The  custom 
of  drinking  wine  made  from  honey  has 
been  abandoned  so  that  the  word  is 
now  used  in  an  entirely  dififerent  sense 
than  formerly. 

Why  Is  a  Horseshoe  Said  to  Bring  Good 
luck? 

The  luck  of  the  horseshoe  comes  from 
three  lucky  things  always  connected 
with  horseshoes.  These  consist  of  the 
following  facts:  It  is  the  shape  of  a 
crescent;  it  is  a  portion  of  a  horse;  it 
is  made  of  iron. 

Each  of  these  has  from  time  im- 
memorial been  considered  lucky.  Any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  crescent  was  al- 
ways considered  a  thing  to  bring  luck. 
From  the  earliest  times,  too,  at  least 
since  the  world  knew  something  of  the 
qualities  of  iron,  iron  has  been  re- 
garded as  a  thing  to  give  protection 
and  incidentally  that  would  involve 
good  luck.  And  lastly  the  horse,  since 
the  days  of  English  mythology,  has  been 
regarded  as  a  luck  animal.  When,  then, 
we  had  a  combination  of  the  three — 
the  crescent,  the  iron  and  the  horse  in 
one  object,  it  became  a  true  lucky  sign 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

Some  Wonders  of  the  Human  Body. 

There  are  said  to  be  more  than  two 
million  little  openings  in  the  skins  of 
ouv  bodies  to  serve  as  outlets  for  an 
ecjiial  number  of  sweat  glands.  The 
body  contains  more  than  two  hundred 
bones.  It  is  said  that  as  much  blood 
as  is  in*  the  entire  body  pases  through 
the  heart  every  minufe,  i.e..  all  the  blood 
in  llu'  liody  goes  in  and  out  of  llic 
heart  once  every  minute.  The  lung 
capacity  of  the  average  person  is  about 
32.S  cubic  inches. 

With   ever\'  brealh    \ou    iidiale  ahout 


312 


HOW  THE  WORD   "NEWS"   ORIGINATED 


two-thirds  of  a  pint  of  fresh  air  and 
exhale  an  equal  amount  if  you  breathe 
normally. 

The  stomach  of  the  average  adult 
person  has  a  capacity  of  about  five  pints 
and  manufactures  about  nine  ])Ounds  of 
gastric  juice  daily. 

There  are  over  five  hundred  muscles  in 
the  body  all  of  which  should  be  exercised 
daily  to  keep  you  in  the  best  condition. 
The  average  adult  human  heart  weighs 
from  eight  to  twelve  ounces  and  it  beats 
about  100,000  times  every  twenty-four 
hours.  The  perspiration  system  in  the 
body  has  only  very  small  ducts  or  pipes, 
but  there  are  about  nine  miles  of  them. 
The  average  person  takes  about  one  ton 
of  food  and  drink  each  year.  We 
breathe  about  eighteen  times  a  minute, 
which  amounts  to  about  3,000  cubic 
feet  an  hour. 

Where   Did  the   Expression  "Kick  the 

Bucket"  Originate? 

The  expression  originally  came  from 
the  method  used  in  stringing  a  hog 
after  killing  it.  The  pig  after  being 
slaughtered  was  hung  by  by  the  hind 
legs.  A  piece  of  bent  wood  was  passed 
in  behind  the  tendons  of  each  of  the 
hind  legs  and  the  pig  hung  up  hy  this 
stick  of  wood  much  like  we  hang  up 
clothes  with  a  clothes  hanger  today. 
The  piece  of  wood  was  called  a  bucket. 
The  ''bucket"  part  of  the  expression 
does  not,  therefore,  refer  to  a  bucket  at 
all  but  to  this  bent  piece  of  wood.  All  are 
not  agreed  on  this  explanation,  how- 
ever, as  it  does  not  explain  where  the 
"kick"  comes  in.  Many  investigators 
hold  to  the  belief  that  a  man  named 
Bolsover  was  the  first  to  "kick  the 
bucket"  literally  and  that  the  expres- 
sion came  from  the  manner  of  his 
death.  He  stood  on  a  pail  or  bucket 
while  arranging  to  hang  himself  by  ty- 
ing a  rope  around  his  neck  and  to  a 
beam  which  he  could  not  reach  with- 
out standing  on  the  bucket.  A\'hea 
ready  he  kicked  the  bucket  out  trom 
under  his  feet  and  so  succeeded  in  car- 
rving  out  his  own  wishes  and  in  so  do- 
ing coined  a  famous  expression  which 
still  means  "to  die." 


How  Did  the  Word  "News"  Originate? 

The  word  "News"  which  was  created 
to  describe  what  newspapers  are  sup- 
posed to  print,  came  from  the  four 
letters  which  have  for  ages  been  used 
as  abbreviations  of  the  directions  of 
the  compass.  In  this  N  stands  for 
North,  E  for  East,  S  for  South  and  W 
for  West,  and  in  illustrating  the  points 
of  the  compass  the  following  diagram 
has  long  been  used: 
N 


W— 


— E 


The  earliest  newspapers  always 
printed  this  sign  on  the  front  pages  of 
their  papers  in  every  issue.  This  was 
done  to  indicate  that  the  paper  printed 
all  the  happenings  from  four  quarters 
of  the  globe. 

Later  on  some  enterprising  news- 
paper man  who  may  have  forgotten  the 
original  significance  of  the  letter  in  the 
diagram,  arranged  the  letters  N.  E.  W. 
S.  in  a  straight  line  at  the  head  of  the 
paper  and  that  is  how  what  w^e  read  in 
the  papers  came  to  be  known  as  news. 

Almost  one-half  the  whole  number  of 
newspapers  published  in  the  world  are 
published  in  the  United  States  and  Can- 
ada. 

Who  Made  the  First  Umbrella? 

No  one  know^s  w'ho  made  the  first 
umbrella  but  we  know  that  Jonas  Han- 
way  of  London  was  the  first  man  to 
carry  one  over  his  head  to  keep  off  the 
rain. 

Umbrellas  seem  to  have  been  known 
as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Ninevah  and 
Persepolis,  for  representations  of  them 
appear  frequently  in  the  sculptures  of 
those  early  days.  The  w'omen  of  an- 
cient Rome  and  Greece  carried  them 
but  the  men  never  did. 

Mr.  Hanway  is  said  to  be  the  first 
man  who  walked  in  the  streets  of  Lon- 
don with  an  open  umbrella  over  his 
head  to  keep  off  the  rain.  He  is  said 
to  have  used  it  for  thirty  years  before 
they  came  into  general  use  for  this  pur- 
pose. 


HOW  MAN   LEARNED  TO  TELL  TIME 


313 


The  first  picture  shows  what  was  probably  man's  first  method  of  telling  time.  The 
principle  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  sun-dial.  It  provides  to-day  an  accurate  method  of 
telling  time. 

Of  course,  man  in  the  early  days  needed  to  find  some  other  means  of  noting  the 
passing  of  time  at  night,  for  then  the  sun  cast  no  shadow  for  him.  His  ingenuity  taught 
him  to  make  a  candle  which  was  light  and  dark  in  alternate  rings,  and  as  each  section 
burned  he  made  a  mark  to  record  the  passing  of  a  certain  length  of  time.  Before  candles 
were  invented  he  used  a  rope  in  which  he  tied  knots  at  equal  spaces  apart  and  which  he 
burned  as  shown  in  the  third  picture. 


The   Story  In  a  Time  Piece 


What  Is  Time? 

Time,  as  a  separate  entity,  has  not 
yet  been  defined  in  language.  Defini- 
tions will  be  found  to  be  merely  ex- 
planations of  the  sense  in  which  we  use 
the  worrl  in  matters  of  practical  life. 
No  human  being  can  tell  how  long  a 
minute  is  ;  only  that  it  is  longer  than  a 
second  and  shorter  than  an  hour.  In 
some  sense  we  can  think  of  a  longer 
or  shorter  period  of  time,  but  this  is 
merely  comparative.  The  difference 
between  50  and  75  steps  a  minute  in 
marching  is  clear  to  us,  but  note  that 
we  introduce  motion  and  space  before 
we  can  get  a  conception  of  time  as  a 


succession  of  events,  but  time,  in  itself, 
remains  elusive. 

In  time  measures  we  strive  for  a  uni- 
form motion  of  something  and  this 
implies  equal  spaces  in  equal  times ;  so 
we  here  assume  just  what  we  cannot 
explain,  for  space  is  as  difficult  to  de- 
fine as  time.  Time  cannot  be  "squared" 
or  used  as  a  multiplier  or  divisor.  Only 
numbers  can  be  so  used ;  so  when  we 
speak  of  "the  square  of  the  time"  we 
mean  some  numl)iT  wliich  we  have 
arbitrarily  assumed  Id  represent  it. 
This  becomes  plain  when  we  state  tli.it 
in  calculations  relating  to  pendidunis, 
for  example,  we  may  use  seconds  and 
inches — mimites   and    feet — (jr   seconds 


314 


MAN'S   FIRST  DIVISIONS   OF  TIME 


and  meters — and  the  answer  will  come 
out  right  in  the  units  which  we  have 
assumed.  Still  more,  numbers  them- 
selves have  no  meaning  till  they  are 
applied  to  something,  and  here  we  are 
applying  them  to  time,  space  and  mo- 
tion ;  so  we  are  trying  to  explain  three 
abstractions  by  a  fourth  !  But.  happily, 
the  results  of  these  assumptions  and 
calculations  are  borne  out  in  practical 
human  life,  and  we  are  not  compelled 
to  settle  the  deep  question  as  to  whether 
fundamental  knowledge  is  possible  to 
the  human  mind. 

What    Was    Man's    First    Division    of 

Time  ? 

Evidently,  man  began  by  considering 
the  day  as  a  unit  and  did  not  include 
the  night  in  his  time-keeping  for  a 
long  period.  "And  the  evening  and 
the  morning  were  the  first  day,"  Gen. 
I,  5;  "Evening  and  morning  and  at 
noonday,"  Ps.  Iv,  17,  divides  the  day 
("sun  up")  in  two  parts.  "Fourth  part 
of  a  day,"  Neh.  ix,  3,  shows  another 
advance.  Then  comes,  "are  there  not 
twelve  hours  in  a  day,"  John  xi,  9.  The 
"eleventh  hour,"  Matt,  xx,  i  to  12, 
shows  clearly  that  sunset  was  12 
o'clock.  A  most  remarkable  feature 
of  this  12-hour  day,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, is  that  the  w^riters  generally 
speak  of  the  third,  sixth  and  ninth 
hours.  Acts  ii,  15;  iii,  i;  x,  9.  This 
is  extremely  interesting,  as  it  shows 
that  the  writers  still  thought  in  quarter 
days  (Neh.  ix,  3)  and  had  not  yet 
acquired  the  12-hour  conception  given 
tc  them  by  the  Romans.  They  thought 
in  quarter  days  even  when  using  the 
12-hour  numerals!  Note,  further,  that 
references  are  to  "hours" ;  so  it  is  evi- 
dent that  in  New  Testament  times  they 
did  not  need  smaller  subdivisions. 
"About  the  third  hour"  shows  the 
mental  attitude.  That  they  had  no  con- 
ception of  our  minutes,  seconds  and 
fifth-seconds  becomes  quite  plain  when 
we  notice  that  they  jumped  down 
from  the  hour  to  nowhere,  in  such  ex- 
pressions as  "in  an  instant — in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye." 

Before  this  the  night  had  been  di- 
vided    into     three     watches      (Judges 


vii,  19).  Poetry  to  this  day  uses  the 
"hours"  and  the  "watches"  as  symbols. 

This  twelve  hours  of  daylight  gave 
very  variable  hours  in  latitudes  some 
distance  from  the  equator,  being  long 
in  summer  and  short  in  winter.  The 
amount  of  human  ingenuity  expended 
on  time  measures  so  as  to  divide  the 
time  from  sunrise  to  sunset  into  twelve 
ecjual  parts  is  almost  beyond  belief.  In 
Constantinople,  to-day,  this  is  used,  but 
in  a  rather  imperfect  manner,  for  the 
clocks  are  modern  and  run  twenty- four 
hours  uniformly ;  so  the  best  they  can 
do  is  to  set  them  to  mark  twelve  at 
sunset.  This  necessitates  setting  to  the 
varying  length  of  the  days,  so  that  the 
clocks  appear  to  be  sometimes  more 
and  sometimes  less  than  six  hours 
ahead  of  ours.  A  clock  on  the  tower 
at  the  Sultan's  private  mosque  gives  the 
impression  of  being  out  of  order  and 
about  six  hours  ahead,  but  it  is  running 
correctly  to  their  system.  Hotels  in 
Constantinoj:)le  often  show  two  clocks, 
one  of  them  to  our  twelve  o'clock  noon 
system.  Evidently  the  Jewish  method 
of  ending  a  day  at  sunset  is  the  same 
and  explains  the  command,  "let  not  the 
sun  go  down  upon  thy  wrath,"  which 
we  might  read,  "do  not  carry  your 
anger  over  to  another  day." 

This  simple  line  of  steps  in  dividing 
the  day  and  night  is  taken  principally 
from  the  Bible  because  every  one  can 
easily  look  up  the  passages  quoted  and 
many  more,  while  quotations  from 
books  not  in  general  use  would  not 
be  so  clear. 

How  Did  Man  Begin  to  Measure  Time? 

Now,  as  to  the  methods  of  measur- 
ing time,  we  must  use  circumstantial 
evidence  for  the  prehistoric  period.  The 
rising  and  the  going  down  of  the  sun 
— the  lengthening  shadows,  etc.,  must 
come  first,  and  we  are  on  safe  ground 
here,  for  savages  still  use  i)rimitive 
methods  like  setting  up  a  stick  and 
marking  its  shadow  so  that  a  party 
trailing  behind  can  estimate  the  dis- 
tance the  leaders  are  ahead  by  the 
changed  position  of  the  shadow.  Men 
notice  their  shortening  and  lengtht  ning 
shadows  to  this  day.    When  the  shadow 


HOW  TIME   IS    CALCULATED  AT  SEA 


315 


of  a  man  shortens  more  and  more 
slowly  till  it  appears  to  be  fixed,  the 
observer  knows  it  is  noon,  and  when 
it  shows  the  least  observable  lengthen- 
ing then  it  is  just  past  noon.  Now,  it 
is  a  remarkable  fact  that  this  crude 
method  of  deten^iining  noon  is  just  the 
same  as  "taking  the  sun"  to  determine 
noon  at  sea.  Noon  is  the  time  at  which 
the  sun  reaches  his  highest  point  on 
any  given   day. 


time  is  important,  several  officers  on  a 
large  ship  will  take  the  meridian  pas- 
sage at  the  same  time  and  average  their 
readings,  so  as  to  reduce  the  "personal 
error."  All  of  which  is  merely  a  greater 
degree  of  accuracy  than  that  of  the 
man  who  observes  his  shadow. 

The  gradual  development  of  the 
primitive  shadow  methods  culminated 
in  the  modern  sun-dial.  The  "dial  of 
Ahas"   (Isa.  xxxviii,  8),  on  which  the 


The  Sun-dial  is  only  an  improvement  on  the  stick  which  cast  a  shadow  which  enabled 
man  to  tell  the  time  of  daj'  at  any  hour.  The  shadow  moves  around  the  dial,  falling  on 
the  numbers  on  the  circle. 


How  Is  the  Time  Calculated  at  Sea? 

At  sea  this  is  determined  generally 
by  a  sextant,  which  simply  measures  the 
angle  between  the  horizon  and  the  sun. 
The  instrument  is  a[)j)lied  a  little  before 
noon  and  the  observer  sees  the  sun 
creeping  upward  slower  and  slower  till 
a  little  tremor  or  hesitation  appears, 
indicating  that  the  sun  has  reached  his 
height — noon.  Oh!  you  wish  to  know 
if  the  observer  is  likely  to  make  a 
mistake?    Yes,  and  when  accurate  local 


sun  went  back  ten  "degrees,"  is  often 
referred  to,  but  in  one  of  the  revised 
editions  of  the  Bible  the  sun  went  back 
ten  "stejis."  This  becomes  extremely 
interesting  when  we  find  that  in  India 
there  still  remains  an  immense  dial  built 
with  steps  instead  of  hour  lines. 

In  a  restored  flower  garden,  within 
one  of  the  large  houses  in  the  ruins  of 
Pompeii,  may  be  seen  a  sun-dial  of  the 
Armillary  tyj^e,  presumably  in  its  orig- 
inal position.  It  looks  as  tf  the  i)lanc 
of  the  e(|uat(jr  and  the  position  of  the 


310 


THREK  GREAT  STEPS   IN   MEASURING  TIME 


earth's  axis  must  have  been  known  to 
the  maker. 

Both  these  dials  were  in  use  before 
the  beginning  of  our  era  and  were 
covered  by  the  great  eruption  of  Ve- 
suvius in  79  A.D.,  which  destroyed 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum. 

Modern  sun-dials  ditYer  only  in  being 
more  accurately  made  and  a  few  "curi- 
osity" dials  added.  The  necessity  for 
time  during  the  night,  as  man's  life  be- 
came a  little  more  complicated,  neces- 
sitated the  invention  of  time  machines. 
The  "clepsydra,"  or  water-clock,  was 
probably  the  first.  A  French  writer 
has  dug  up  some  old  records  putting  it 
back  to  Hoang-ti  2679  B.C.,  but  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  certainly  in  use  in 
China  in  iioo  B.C.,  so  we  will  be  sat- 
isfied with  that  date.  In  presenting 
a  subject  to  the  young  student  it  is 
sometimes  advisable  to  use  round  num- 
bers to  give  a  simple  comprehension 
and  then  leave  him  to  find  the  over- 
lapping of  dates  and  methods  as  he 
advances.  Keeping  this  in  mind,  the 
following  table  may  be  used  to  give  an 
elementary  hint  of  the  three  great  steps 
in  time  measuring. 

Shadow  time,  2000  to  1000  B.C. 

Dials  and  water-clocks,  1000  B.C.  to 
1000  A.D. 

Clocks  and  watches,  1000  to  2000 
A.D. 

Gear-wheel  clocks  and  watches  have 
here  been  pushed  forw-ard  to  2000 
A.D.,  as  they  may  last  to  that  time, 
but  no  doubt  we  will  supersede  them. 
At  the  present  time  science  is  just  about 
ready  to  say  that  a  time  measurer  con- 
sisting of  wheels  and  pinions — a  driving 
power  and  a  regulator  in  the  form  of 
a  pendulum  or  balance,  is  a  clumsy  con- 
trivance and  that  we  ought  to  do  better 
very  soon. 

It  is  remarkable  how  few  are  aware 
that  the  simplest  form  of  sun-dial  is 
the  best,  and  that,  as  a  regulator  of  our 
present  clocks,  it  is  good  within  one 
or  two  minutes.  No  one  need  be  with- 
out a  "noon-mark"  sun-dial ;  that  is, 
every  one  may  have  the  best  of  all  dials. 
Take  a  post  or  any  straight  object 
standing  "plumb,"  or  best  of  all  the 
corner  of  a  building.     In  the  case  of 


the  post,  or  tree  trunk,  a  stone  (shown 
in  solid  black)  may  be  set  in  the 
ground ;  but  for  the  building  a  line 
may  often  be  cut  across  a  flagstone  of 
the  footpath.  Many  methods  may  be 
employed  to  get  this  noon  mark,  which 
is  simply  a  north  and  south  line  :  View- 
ing the  pole  star,  using  a  compass  (if 
the    local    variation    is    known)    or   the 


JJrawing    by    James    Arthur. 


A  form  of  Sun-dial  that  is  as  good  to-day 
as   any   dial    for   determining  noon. 

old  method  of  finding  the  time  at  which 
the  shadow  of  a  pole  is  shortest.  But 
the  best  practical  way  in  this  day  is  to 
use  a  watch  set  to  local  time  and  make 
the  mark  at  12  o'clock. 

On  four  days  of  the  year  the  sun  is 
right  and  your  mark  may  be  set  at  12 
on  these  days,  but  you  may  use  an 
almanac  and  look  in  the  column  marked 
"mean  time  at  noon"  or  "sun  on  meri- 
dian." For  example,  suppose  on  the 
bright  day  w'hen  you  are  ready  to  place 
your  noon  mark  you  read  in  this  col- 
umn 11.50,  then  when  your  watch 
shows   11.50  make  your  noon  mark  to 


WATER  CLOCKS  FOR  TELLING  TIME 


317 


the  shadow  and  it  will  be  right  for  all 
time  to  come.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
there  are  not  an  even  number  of  days 
in  a  year,  it  follows  that  on  any  given 
yearly  date  at  noon  the  earth  is  not  at 
the  same  place  in  its  elliptical  orbit,  and 
the  correction  of  this  by  the  leap  years 
causes  the  equation  table  to  vary  in 
periods  of  four  years.  The  centennial 
leap  years  cause  another  variation  of 
400  years,  etc.,  but  these  variations  are 
less  than  the  error  in  reading  a  dial. 

How  Did  Men  Tell  Time  When  the  Sun 

Cast  No  Shadows? 

During  the  night  and  also  in  cloudy 
weather  the  sun-dial  was  useless,  and 
we  read  that  the  priests  of  the  temples 


and  monks  of  more  modern  times 
"went  out  to  observe  the  stars"  to  make 
a  guess  at  the  time  of  night.  The  most 
prominent  type  after  the  shadow  de- 
vices was  the  "water-clock"  or  "clep- 
sydra," but  many  other  methods  were 
used,  such  as  candles,  oil  lamps,  and  in 
comparatively  late  times,  the  sand-glass. 
The  fundamental  principle  of  all  water- 
clocks  is  the  escape  of  water  from  a 
vessel  through  a  small  hole.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  such  a  vessel  would  empty 
itself  each  time  it  is  filled  in  very  nearly 
the  same  time.  The  reverse  of  this  has 
been  used,  as  shown  in  the  picture  of 
the  Time-boy  of  India.  He  sat  in  front 
of  a  large  vessel  of  water  and  floated 
a  bronze  cup  having  a  small  hole  in  its 


This  picture  shows  the 
hour-glass  or  sand-glass.  It 
is  really  a  type  of  water- 
clock,  being  based  on  the 
same  principle.  The  upper 
glass  bulb  was  filled  with 
sand  and  this  sand  fell 
through  a  little  hole  be- 
tween the  two  bulbs.  When 
the  sand  had  all  gone 
through,  the  glass  was 
turned  upside  down  and 
the  operation  repeated. 


PImIo    l)y    James    .\rtliur. 
TIME-BOY    OF    I.VniA.  —  WATKU-CI.OCK. 

The  Water-clock  consisted  of  a  large  vessel  filled  with 
water,  on  the  surface  of  which  was  placed  a  smaller  vessel, 
really  a  gong,  with  a  hole  in  the  bottom.  The  water  grad- 
ually filled  the  smaller  vessel,  and  it  sank.  The  Time-boy 
sat  beside  the  Water-clock  and  as  soon  as  the  vessel  sank 
he  fished  it  out,  emptied  it,  struck  the  gong-  one  or  more 
times  and  set  it  on  the  water  ugain. 


318 


A   PRIMITIVE  TWELVE=HOUR  CLOCK 


bottom  in  this  large  vessel,  and  as  the 
water  ran  in  through  the  hole  the  cup 
sank.  The  boy  then  fished  it  up  and 
struck  one  or  more  blows  on  it  as  a 
gong.  This  he  continued  and  a  rude 
division  of  time  was  obtained — while 
the  bov  kept  awake ! 


I  irav.  mu    I'r.'iii    ilcscription   by   James   Arthur. 

The      "Hon-woo-et-low,"      Canton,      China. 
Copper  jars  dropping  water. 

The  most  interesting  of  all  w^ater- 
clocks  was  undoubtedly  the  "copper  jars 
dropping  water,"  in  Canton,  China, 
where  it  can  still  be  seen.  Referring 
to  the  picture  herewith  and  reading  the 
four  Chinese  characters  downwards  the 
translation  is  "Canton  City."  To  the 
left  and  still  downwards,  "Hon-woo- 
et-low,"  which  is,  "Copper  jars  drop- 
])ing  water."  Educated  Chinamen  in- 
form me  that  it  is  over  3000  years  old. 
The  little  open  building  or  tower  in 
which  it  stands  is  higher  than  surround- 
ing buildings.     It  is,  therefore,  reason- 


ably safe  to  state  that  the  Chinese  had 
a  weather  and  time  station  over  1000 
years  before  our  era. 

It  is  a  12-hour  clock,  consisting 
of  four  copper  jars  partially  built  in 
masonry  forming  a  stair-like  structure. 
Commencing  at  the  toj)  jar  each  one 
drops  into  the  next  downward  until  the 
water  reaches  the  solid  bottom  jar.  In 
this  lowest  one  a  float,  "the  bamboo 
stick,"  is  placed  and  indicates  the  height 
of  the  water,  and  thus  in  a  rude  way 
gives  the  time.  It  is  said  to  be  set 
morning  and  evening  by  dipping  the 
water  from  jar  4  to  jar  i,  so  it  runs 
12  hours  of  our  time.  What  are  the 
uses  of  jars  2  and  3,  since  the  water 
simply  enters  them  and  drips  out  again? 
No  information  could  be  obtained,  but 
I  venture  an  explanation  and  hope  the 


Photo    by   James    Arthur. 
TOWER    OF    THE    WINDS. 

This  tower  is  located  at  Athens,  Greece. 
It  was  bnilt  about  50  B.C.  It  is  octagonal 
in  shape  and  had  at  one  time  sun-dials  on 
each  of  its  eight  sides.  On  top  was  a 
bronze  weather  vane  from  which  it  derived 
its  name. 


THE  FIRST  MODERN  CLOCK 


319 


reader  can  do  better,  as  we  are  all  of 
a  family  and  there  is  no  jealousy. 
When  the  top  jar  is  filled  for  a  12-hour 
run  it  would  drip  out  too  fast  during 
the  first  six  hours  and  too  slow  during 
the  second  six  hours,  or  account  of  the 
varying  "head"  of  water.  Now,  the 
spigot  of  jar  2  could  be  set  so  that  it 
would  gain  water  during  the  first  six 
hours,  and  lose  during  the  second  six 
hours,  and  thus  equalize  a  little  by 
splitting  the  error  of  jar  i  in  two  parts. 
Similarly,  these  two  errors  of  jar  2 
could  be  again  split  by  jar  3  making 
four  small  variations  in  lowest  jar,  in- 
stead of  one  large  error  in  the  flow  of 
jar  I.  This  could  be  extended  to  a 
greater  number  of  jars,  another  jar 
making  eight  smaller  errors. 

The  best  thing  the  young  student 
could  do  at  this  point  would  be  to  grasp 
the  remarkable  fact  that  the  clock  is 
not  an  old  machine,  since  is  covers  onl}^ 
the  comparatively  short  period  from 
1364  to  the  present  day.  Compared 
with  the  period  of  man's  history  and 
inventions  it  is  of  yesterday.  Strictly 
speaking,  as  we  use  the  word  clock, 
its  age  from  De  Vick  to  the  modern 
astronomical  is  only  about  540  years. 
If  we  take  the  year  1660,  we  find  that 
it  represents  the  center  of  modern  im- 
provements in  clocks,  a  few  years  be- 
fore and  after  that  date  includes  the 
pendulum,  the  anchor  and  dead  beat 
escapements,  the  minute  and  second 
hands,  the  circular  balance  and  the  hair 
spring,  along  with  minor  improvements. 
Since  the  end  of  that  period,  which 
we  may  make  1700,  no  fundamental 
invention  has  been  added  to  clocks  and 
vv-atches.  This  becomes  impressive 
when  we  remember  that  the  last  200 
years  have  produced  more  inventions 
than  all  previous  known  history — but 
only  minor  improvements  in  clocks ! 
The  application  of  electricity  for  wind- 
ing, driving,  or  regulating  clocks  is  not 
fundamental,  for  the  time-keeping  is 
done  by  the  master  clock  with  its  pen- 
dulum and  wheels,  just  as  by  any 
grandfather's  clock  2cx)  years  old.  'JMiis 
Ijroad  survey  of  time  measuring  does 
not  jjcrmit  us  to  go  into  miinite  me- 
chanical  details. 


•CORO. 


WEIGHT. 


Drawing    by    James    Artliur. 


Modern  clocks  commence  with  De  Vick's 
of  1364,  which  is  the  first  unquestioned 
clock  consisting-  of  toothed  wheels  and  con- 
taining the  fundamental  features  of  our 
present  clocks.  References  are  often  quoted 
l)ack  to  about  1000  A.D.,  but  the  words 
translated  "clocks"  were  used  for  bells  and 
dials  at  that  date;  so  we  are  forced  to  con- 
sider the  De  Vick  clock  as  the  first  till  more 
evidence  is  obtained.  It  has  been  pointed 
out,  however,  that  this  clock  could  hardly 
have  been  invented  all  at  once;  and  there- 
fore it  is  i)robable  that  many  inventions 
leading  up  to  it  have  been  lost  to  history. 
That  part  of  a  dock  which  does  the  ticking 
is  calU'd  tile  "escapement,"  and  the  oldest 
form  known  is  the  "Verm." 


320 


EARLIEST   CLOCKS   HAD   NO   DIALS  OR   HANDS 


Scattered  references  in  old  writings 
make  it  reasonably  certain  that  from 
about  looo  A.D.  to  1300  A.D.  bells 
were  struck  by  machines  regulated 
with  this  verge  escapement,  thus  show- 
ing that  the  striking  part  of  a  clock 
is  older  than  the  clock  itself.  It  seems 
strange  to  us  to  say  that  many  of  the 
earlier  clocks  were  strikers  only,  and 
had  no  dials  or  hands,  just  as  if  you 
turned  the  face  of  your  clock  to  the 
wall  and  depended  on  the  striking  for 
the  time. 


Photo    by    James    .Arthur. 
ENGLISH     blacksmith's    CLOCK. 


.V  good  idea  of  the  old  clun-ch 
clocks  may  be  obtained  from  the  pic- 
ture herewith.  Tradition  has  followed 
it  down  as  the  "I*lnglish  Blacksmith's 
Clock."  It  has  the  very  earliest  ap- 
plication of  the  pendulum.  The  pen- 
dulum is  less  than  3  inches  long  and  is 
hung  on  the  verge,  or  pallet  axle,  and 
beats  222  per  minute.  This  clock  may 
be  safely  put  at  250  years  old,  and 
contains  nothing  invented  since  that 
date.  Wheels  are  cast  brass  and  all 
teeth  laboriously  filed  out  by  hand. 
Pinions  are  solid  with  the  axles,  or 
"stafTs,"  and  also  filed  out  by  hand. 
It  is  put  together,  generally  by  mor- 
tise, tenon  and  cotter,  but  it  has  four 
original  screws  all  made  by  hand  with 
the  file.  How  did  he  thread  the  holes 
for  these  screws?  Probably  made  a 
tap  by  hand  as  he  made  the  screws. 
Put  the  most  remarkable  feature  is  the 
f;ict  that  no  lathe  was  used  in  forming 
any  part — all  stafifs,  pinions  and  pivots 
being  filed  by  hand.  This  is  simply 
extraordinary  w'hen  it  is  pointed  out 
that  a  little  dead  center  lathe  is  the 
sim]:)lest  machine  in  the  world,  and  he 
could  have  made  one  in  less  than  a  day 
and  saved  himself  weeks  of  hard  labor. 
Tt  is  probable  that  he  had  great  skill 
in  hand  work  and  that  learning  to  use 
a  lathe  would  have  been  a  great  and 
tedious  efifort  for  him.  So  we  have  a 
complete  striking  clock  made  by  a  man 
so  poor  that  he  had  only  his  anvil, 
liammer  and  file.  The  weights  are 
hung  on  cords  as  thick  as  an  ordinary 
lead-pencil  and  pass  over  pulleys  hav- 
ing spikes  set  around  them  to  prevent 
the  cords  from  slipping.  The  weights 
descend  7  feet  in  12  hours,  so  they 
must  be  pulled  up — not  wound  up — 
twice  a  day.  The  single  hour  hand  is 
a  work  of  art  and  is  cut  through  like 
lace.  Public  clocks  may  still  be  seen 
in  Europe  with  only  one  hand.  Many 
have  been  puzzled  by  finding  that  old, 
rudely  made  clocks  often  have  fine 
dials,  but  this  is  not  remarkable  when 
we  state  that  art  and  engraving  had 
reached  a  high  level  before  the  days 
of  clocks. 


Courtesy   of  Colgate  and   Company. 
THE   HANDS   OF  THE   LARGEST   CLOCK   IN   THE   WORLD — ON    THE  ROOF  OF  THE  COLGATE   FACTORY. 

This  big  clock  faces  the  giant  office  buildings  of  down-town  New  York.  Its  dial  is 
38  feet  in  diameter  and  can  be  read  easily  at  a  distance  of  three  miles,  so  that  passengers 
on  the  incoming  liners  pick  out  the  clock  as  one  of  their  first  sights  of  New  York. 

The  next  largest  clock  (on  the  Metropolitan  Tower)  is  26j/>  feet  in  diameter;  tha 
Westminster  clock  of  London,  22^  feet. 

The  great  clock  weighs  approximately  6  tons.  The  minute  hand,  20  feet  long,  travels 
at  its  pomt  23  inches  every  minute;  more  than  one-half  mile  each  day. 

The  bed  of  this  clock  is  4  feet  in  length,  the  wheels  and  gears  being  made  of  bronze 
and  pinions  of  hardened  steel.  The  time  train  occupies  about  one-third  of  the  bedplate, 
and  has  a  main  time  whgel  measuring  iSy^  inches  in  diameter.  This  train  is  equipped  with 
Dennison's  double  three-legged  gravity  escapement,  which  was  invented  by  Sir  Edmund 
Becket,  chiefly  for  use  on  the  famous  Westminster  clock,  installed  in  the  Parliament 
Huildings,  in  London,  England.  The  use  of  this  escapement  is  most  advantageous  for  a 
gigantic  clock  of  this  kind  as  it  allows  the  impulse  given  the  pendulum  rod  to  be  always 
constant,  and  therefore  does  not  permit  any  change  of  power  or  driving  force  of  the  clock 
to  affect  its  time-keeping  qualities. 

It  requires  about  6cx)  pounds  of  cast-iron  to  propel  this  time  train,  and  the  clock  is 
arranged  to  run  eight  days  without  winding.  The  gravity  arms  of  the  escapement  are 
fastened  at  a  point  very  near  the  suspension  spring,  and  the  arms  are  fitted  with  bronze 
roller   beat  pins. 

The  dial  contains  1134  square  feet,  or  about  one  thirty-fifth  of  an  acre.  The  numerals 
consist  of  heavy  black  strokes,  5  feet  6  inches  long  and  30  inches  wide  at  the  outer  end, 
tapering  to  a  point  at  the  inner  end.  The  circumference  of  the  dial  is  api)roximately  120 
feet.  The  distance  from  center  to  center  of  nunurals  is  10  feet,  and  the  minute  spaces 
arc   2   feet. 

The  background  on  dial  is  painted  white,  and  in  the  daytime  the  black  numerals  show 
up  distinctly.  At  night  the  numerals,  or  hour  marks,  are  (lesignated  by  a  row  of  incan- 
descent bulbs  j)laced  in  a  trough  5  inches  wide  and  5  inches  deep.  The  hands  at  night 
are  outlined  with  incandescent  electric  lights,  there  being  27  lamjis  on  the  hour  hand  and  42 
lamps  on   the   minute   hand. 


322 


THE   MACHINERY    WHICH    RUNS  A    BIG    CLOCK 


This  picture  shows  the  machinery 
necessary  to  operate  a  large  modern 
tower  clock. 

The  mechanism  is  held  in  place  and 
confined  entirely  within  a  cast-iron 
structure  which  is  firmly  bolted  to  the 
floor.  The  wheels  are  composed  of 
bronze,  the  pinions  of  steel  (hardened) 
and  the  gears  are  machine  cut.  At  the 
front  of  the  clock  is  a  small  dial  which 
enables  one  to  tell  exactly  the  position 
of  the  hands  on  the  outside  dials,  and 
there  is  also  a  second  hand  to  permit 


of   very   close   regulation   and   adjust- 
ment. 

Three  ways  are  provided  for  the 
regulation.  First  by  a  knurled  screw 
at  the  top  of  bed  frame.  Second  by  a 
revolving  disc  at  the  bottom  of  the 
pendulum  ball.  Very  often  by  either 
of  these  two  methods  it  is  impossible 
to  bring  the  clock  to  fractional  seconds, 
and  in  order  to  permit  of  a  nicety  of 
adjustment  there  is  a  cup  fitted  at  the 
top  of  the  ball  so  that  by  inserting  or 
taking  out  lead  pellets,  the  rating  can 
be  brought  to  absolute  time. 


THE   CLOCK    IN   INDEPENDENCE  HALL 


323 


IXDEPEXDEXCE      HALL,     PHILADELPHIA 


NKW    YOUK    CITV    HALL 


324 


WHERE  THE  DAY   BEGINS 


Where  Does  the  Day  Begin? 

To  understand  this  subject  we  must 
first  appreciate  that  a  day  as  we  think 
of  it  is  a  division  of  time  made  by  man 
for  the  purpose  of  his  own  reckoning. 
So  far  as  the  beginning  of  day  is  con- 
cerned, it  begins  at  a  different  place 
in  the  world  every  hour;  yes,  every 
minute  and  every  second  in  the  day. 
As,  however,  the  distance  in  feet 
where  the  day  begins  from  one  min- 
ute to  another  is  so  short  that  we  can 
hardly  notice  it  in  such  short  measure- 
ments of  time,  we  will  look  at  the 
answer  to  the  question  from  hour 
to  hour.  When  you  understand  the 
subject  from  that  point  you  can  your- 
self see  that  the  day  actually  begins  at 
a  different  point  of  the  earth  every 
minute  and  every  second  of  time. 

How  Much  of  the  Earth  Does  the  Sun 

Shine  on  at  One  Time? 

The  sun  is  shining  on  some  part  of 
the  earth  all  the  time  and  the  shining 
of  the  sun  makes  the  difference  be- 
tween day  and  night.  Wherever  the 
sun  is  shining  it  is  day-time,  and  where 
the  sun  is  not  shining  It  is  night-time. 

To  illustrate  we  will  make  use  of  an 
ordinary  orange  and  a  lighted  gas  jet. 
Let  us  take  a  long  hat-pin  and  stick 
it  through  the  orange  from  stem  to 
stem.  Now  hold  the  orange  by  the 
ends  of  the  hat-pin  up  before  the 
lighted  gas  jet.  You  will  notice  that 
one-half  of  the  orange  is  lighted,  while 
the  other  half  is  dark.  Of  course,  it  is 
the  half  of  the  orange  away  from  the 
light  that  is  dark.  Now,  revolve  the 
orange  slowly  on  the  hat-pin  axis  to- 
ward the  light.  When  you  have  turned 
the  orange  half  way  round  the  part  that 
v.as  formerly  dark  is  now  lighted  up 
and  the  other  part  is  now  dark. 

Now  examine  closely  and  you  will 
see  that  just  one-half  of  the  orange 
is  lighted  at  one  time  and  the  other  half 
is  dark.  You  revolve  the  orange  in 
front  of  the  light  slowly  and  a  portion 
of  the  surface  of  the  orange  is  always 
coming  into  the  light,  while  a  corre- 
s])onding  portion  of  it  on  the  opposite 
side  is  constantly  going  into  the  dark. 
In  other  words,  whatever  the  speed  at 


which  you  revolve  the  orange  toward 
the  light,  one-half  of  it  is  always  light 
and  the  other  half  is  always  dark. 

This  is  exactly  what  happens  in  the 
relation  of  the  earth  to  the  sun  every 
day.  One-half  of  the  earth,  which  is 
continually  revolving  on  its  axis,  is  fac- 
ing the  sun,  and  is,  therefore,  in  the 
daylight,  while  the  other  half  of  the 
earth's  surface  is  in  darkness,  because 
the  light  from  the  sun  does  not  strike 
any  portion  of  it.  If  the  earth  did  not 
revolve  one-half  of  it  would  always  be 
in  day-time,  while  the  other  half  would 
be  continually  having  night-time.  As 
the  earth  is  always  moving  or  revolv- 
ing the  half  where  it  is  day-time  is 
constantly  changing,  so  that  the  day  is 
beginning  on  one-half  of  the  earth's 
surface  every  second  of  the  day. 
Actually,  of  course,  then,  if  you  live  on 
the  east  side  of  town  day  begins  with 
you  a  little  sooner  than  with  your  chum 
who  lives  on  the  west  side  of  town. 
We  have  come  to  measure  the  begin- 
ning of  day  as  sunrise  and  the  begin- 
ning of  night  as  sunset,  wherever  we 
happen  to  be. 

For  convenience  in  setting  clocks  and 
in  measuring  time  we  do  not  take  into 
consideration  these  very  slight  differ- 
ences in  the  rising  and  setting  of  the 
sun,  but  set  our  clocks  all  alike  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  same  town  or  city 
to  avoid  confusion.  In  fact,  in  order 
to  overcome  the  difficulties  and  confu- 
sions arising  in  reckoning  the  time  of 
the  clock  in  different  localities,  and 
still  keep  the  beginning  of  what  we 
call  day-time  constant  with  the  hands 
of  the  clock,  we  have  agreed  upon  what 
we  call  standard  time.  We  agreed  upon 
this  system  of  fixing  standard  time  be- 
cause the  actual  sun  time  by  which 
people  set  their  clocks  up  to  a  few 
years  ago  led  to  so  many  mistakes  in 
catching  trains,  keeping  engagements 
and  other  misunderstandings  where  the 
question  of  time  was  involved.  Then 
^\•hcn  this  system  of  standard  time  was 
adopted  the  confusion  became  even 
worse,  and  the  mistakes  and  misses 
more  numerous,  because  some  people 
insisted  on  setting  their  clocks  to  stan- 
dard time  and  others  insisted  on  stick- 


WHERE  THE  DAY  CHANGES 


325 


ing  to  the  old  sun  time  schedule.  So 
you  could  never  tell  by  looking  at  the 
clock  what  time  it  really  was  unless 
they  put  a  sign  on  the  clock  saying  what 
kind  of  time  they  were  going  by. 
Finally,  however,  most  of  the  people 
came  to  appreciate  that  it  would  be  a 
good  idea  to  use  one  uniform  system 
of  setting  the  clocks  and  of  having 
them  in  harmony  in  a  sense  with  the 
other  clocks  in  the  world,  and  the  adop- 
tion of  the  standard  time  plan  became 
universal.  To  make  this  system  practi- 
cal and  effective,  certain  points  about 
equally  distant  from  each  other  were 
selected,  at  which  point 

Where  Is  the  Hour  Changed? 

the  hour  would  change  for  all  points 
within  that  zone.  Under  this  system  all 
timepieces  in  any  one  zone  point  to 
the  same  hour.  So  the  clock  time 
changes  only  as  you  go  east  or  west. 
All  points  on  a  north  and  south  line 
have  the  same  time  as  the  zone  in  which 
it  is  located. 

For  convenience  in  adjusting  the 
time  in  America  the  country  was  di- 
vided into  four  east  and  west  zones. 
The  first  zone  takes  in  everything  on 
a  straight  north  and  south  line  east 
of  Pittsburg,  and  is  called  Eastern 
time.  The  second  zone  extends  from 
Pittsburg  to  Chicago,  and  is  called  Cen- 
tral time ;  the  third  zone  extends  from 
Chicago  to  Denver,  and  is  called  Moun- 
tain time ;  while  the  fourth  zone  ex- 
tends from  Denver  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  These  selections  were  made 
because  the  sun  actually  rises  about  one 
hour  later  in  Pittsburg  than"  in  New 
York ;  one  hour  later  in  Chicago  than 
in  Pittsburg ;  one  hour  later  in  Denver 
than  in  Chicago,  and  one  hour  later  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  than  in  Denver. 
Under  this  plan  when  it  is  nine  o'clock 
in  New  York  it  is  only  eight  o'clock 
at  Pittsburg  and  all  points  in  the  Cen- 
tral zone ;  seven  o'clock  in  all  points  in 
the  Mountain  zone ;  six  o'clock  in  Den- 
ver and  five  o'clock  in  San  Francisco. 
A.s  you  keep  travelling  westward  you 
flroj;  one  hour  of  the  clock  time  in 
every  zone,  and  as  under  this  system 
the    earth's    east   to    west    distance    is 


divided  into  twenty- four  such  zones, 
if  you  went  west  entirely  around  the 
world  you  would  lose  a  whole  day  of 
clock  time. 

If,  however,  you  went  around  the 
world  from  west  to  east  in  the  same 
manner  you  would  gain  a  whole  day. 

Where  Does  the  Day  Change  ? 

This  system  of  agreeing  on  fixed 
places  where  the  hour  changes  made  it 
necessary  to  also  fix  a  point  where  for 
the  purposes  of  the  calendar  the  day 
also  changes.  This  imaginary  north 
and  south  line  is  fixed  upon  at  i8o 
degrees  west  longitude,  which  would 
cut  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  two.  This  line 
makes  it  possible  for  a  person  to  travel 
all  day  before  approaching  this  line 
and  then  find  himself  after  crossing  it 
travelling  all  the  next  day  with  the 
same  name  for  the  day  of  the  week. 
Thus  he  could  spend  all  of  Sunday 
travelling  toward  the  International  Day 
Line,  as  this  is  called,  and  after  cross- 
ing it  spend  another  Sunday,  which 
would  be  the  next  day,  going  away 
from  it.  This  would  give  him  the  novel 
experience  of  having  two  Sundays  on 
successive  days.  The  same  thing  would 
happen  if  he  were  travelling  to  the 
Day  Line  on  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wed- 
nesday, Thursday,  Friday  or  Satur- 
day. He  would  live  through  two  suc- 
ceeding days  of  the  same  name  in  the 
same  week,  one  right  after  the  other. 
This  would  be  in  going  westward. 

If  you  were  traveling  eastward  and 
crossed  the  International  Day  Line  on 
Sunday  at  midnight  you  would  lose  a 
day  completely  out  of  the  week,  for 
when  you  woke  up  the  next  morning  it 
would  be  Tuesday. 

Why  Do  We  Cook  the  Things  We  Eat? 

We  have  several  reasons  for  doing 
this.  The  first  and  most  important 
reason  to  us  is  that  the  application  of 
heat  to  food  makes  it  more  easy  to 
digest.  Other  reasons  arc  that  when 
cooked  our  food  is  more  palatable;  the 
process  of  cooking  kills  all  microbes, 
which,  if  taken  into  our  bodies  alive, 
would  give  us  diseases,  and  also  it  is 
easier  for  us  to  chew  food  that  has 
been  cooked. 


326 


WONDERS  PERFORMED  BY  ELECTRIC  LIFT  MAGNET 


Magnet  fpame  -  Single  Point  Suspension 


Twin  Conductor. 
Metaoc  rLE.'>t\BLE 
Conduit. 


Maqnet  CoiL 
OuTER  Pole. 


\^Maqnet  Rex-Ea.se  DiaPhram. 
\^       Inner    Pole. 
Non-Maqnetic  Bottom  Plate. 


This  picture  shows  the  construction  of  a  successful  electric  lift  magnet.  This  device, 
by  means  of  magnetic  attraction,  fastens  itself  to  practically  all  kinds  of  iron  and  steel 
without  the  aid  of  slings,  cables  or  chains, 


The  Story  in  a  Magnet 


What   Makes   an   Electro   Magnet   Lift 
Things  ? 

The  working  parts  of  an  electric  lift 
magnet  are  as    follows : 

A  Shell. — This  is  a  steel  casting 
heavily  ribbed  on  the  top  for  strength, 
and  also  to  assist  in  radiating  the  heat- 
ing effect  from  the  coil. 

It  is  usually  made  circular  in  shape, 
the  outside  rim  forming  one  pole,  while 
the  lug  in  the  center  forms  the  other. 
The  coil  fits  in  between  these  poles, 
thus  making  a  magnet  similar  to  the 
ordinary  horseshoe  type. 

A  Bottom  Plate. — The  under  side  of 
the  magnet  is  closed  by  a  very  tough 
and  hard  non-magnetic  steel  plate,  in 
order  to  protect  the  coil. 

As  well  as  being  non-magnetic,  this 
plate  also  has  sufficient  strength  to  re- 
sist the  severe  wear  to  which  a  magnet 
is  necessarily  subjected. 

A  Terminal  Box. — A  one-piece 
heavily-constructed  steel  casting  bolted 
to  the  top  of  the  shell,  containing  and 
protecting  the  brass  sockets  into  which 


the  wires  from  the  coil  terminate, 
forms  the  Terminal  Box. 

The  sockets  are  made  to  receive 
])lugs  placed  on  the  end  of  the  con- 
ductor wire,  by  which  the  magnet  is 
connected   with   the   generator. 

A  Coil. — This  consists  of  a  round 
insulated  wire  which  is  passed,  while 
being  wound,  through  a  cement-like 
substance,  heavily  coating  each  indi- 
vidual strand. 

A  low  voltage  of  current  is  then 
passed  through  the  coil,  a  sufficient 
length  of  time,  to  thoroughly  dry  out 
and  bake  the  coating.  This  renders 
the  magnet  absolutely  fireproof,  elimi- 
nating all  danger  of  short  circuiting  of 
the  coil. 

When  finished  it  is  well  taped  to 
protect  the  outside  wire  from  becom- 
ing chafed. 

The  coil  is  made  slightly  smaller 
than  the  inside  dimensions  of  the  shell 
and  the  remaining  space  is  filled  with 
an  impregnating  coinpound,  which 
hardens  to  the  consistency  of  pitch. 


This  renders  the  coil  thoroughly- 
waterproof  ;  also  forms  a  cushion  to 
prevent  injury  from  the  severe  jars 
and  shocks,  received  when  dropping  a 
magnet  on  its  load. 

A  Controller. — The  rapidity  with 
v;hich  it  is  necessary  to  turn  current 
on  and  off  while  operating  a  magnet, 
creates  what  is  called  a  "back  kick." 
Unless  this  is  dissipated  quickly  it  is 
very   destructive   to   the  coil. 

A  special  controller  dissipates  this 
back  kick  through  a  set  of  resistance 
coils  placed  in  the  controller.  By 
means  of  an  automatic  arrangement, 
connection  with  these  coils  is  made 
instantly  upon  breaking  the  current  be- 
tween the  magnet  and  generator. 

A  system  of  control  used  prevents 
undue  heating  of  the  coil.  This  enables 
the  magnet  to  lift  as  large  a  load  after 
a  long  steady  run  as  at  the  start. 

What  Is  a  Lodestone? 

A  lodestone  is  a  variety  of  the  min- 
eral named  magnetite  which  is  a  nat- 
ural magnet.  The  name  magnet  comes 
f^'om  the  name  of  the  mineral  mag- 
netite and  this  in  turn  derived  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  it  was  first 
discovered  in  Magnesia.  The  word 
magnet  really  means  the  "Stone  of 
^lagnesia." 

A  lodestone  is  one  of  the  mysteries 
of  nature.  Its  properties  can  more 
nearly  be  understood  if  we  examine 
an  artificial  magnet,  which  is  generally 
made  in  the  form  of  either  a  straight 
bar  or  a  shoe.  An  artificial  magnet 
i=;  made  of  iron.  If  you  dro])  a  bar 
magnet  into  a  box  of  iron  filings,  the 
filings  attach  themselves  to  the  bar.  If 
you  examine  it  closely  you  observe 
tb.at  most  of  the  filings  attach  them- 
selves to  the  ends  of  the  bar.  There- 
fore wc  call  the  ends  of  the  bar  the 
poles  of  the  magnet. 

If  you  suspeufl  a  magnetic  needle  at 
its  center  of  gravity  so  that  it  is  ab- 
solutely free  to  turn,  you  will  soon 
find  one  end  of  the  needle  j)ointing 
north  anfl  the  other  south  of  course. 
The  end  whidi  is  pointed  toward  the 
north  is  called  the  north  ])f)le  and  thq 
f)tb(r   the   south   pole.      If   you   have   a 


horse-shoe  magnet,  you  can  demon- 
strate this  for  yourself.  Rub  the  end 
of  your  magnet  over  a  sewing  needle 
and  oil  the  needle  so  that  when  you 
lay  it  on  the  surface  of  a  glass  of  wa- 
ter it  will  float.  Then  look  at  it  closely. 
You  will  see  the  needle  slowly  turn 
until  finally  it  becomes  quite  still.  If 
you  have  a  compass  at  hand  so  that 
you  know  surely  which  is  north  and 
which  is  south,  you  will  find  one  end 
of  the  needle  pointing  north  and  the 
other  south.  You  can  then  place  the 
end  of  your  magnet  against  the  out- 
side of  the  glass  and  draw  the  needle 
toward  your  magnet.  Your  horse-shoe 
magnet  has  its  north  and  south  poles 
close  together. 

If  you  have  a  bar  magnet  and  the 
end  of  the  needle  with  the  eye  in  it  is 
pointing  north,  you  can  drive  the  needle 
on  the  surface  of  the  water  away  from 
you  by  touching  the  outside  of  the 
glass  opposite  that  end  of  the  needle 
with  the  north  pole  of  your  magnet. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  you  reverse  the 
experiment  and  place  the  south  pole 
of  your  magnet  to  the  side  of  the 
glass,  the  needle  will  come  toward  the 
magnet.  In  other  words  then  the  like 
poles  of  a  magnet  repel  each  other  and 
the  unlike  poles  attract  each  other. 

Another  interesting  way  to  show 
this  is  to  take  two  lodestones  or 
two  magnets  and  let  a  lot  of  iron 
filings  attach  themselves  to  the  ends 
of  them.  Then  when  you  have  done 
this,  point  the  two  north  poles  of  the 
magnets  or  lodestones  at  each  other 
close  together.  You  will  be  intensely 
irterested  in  seeing  how  quickly  the 
mysterious  something  that  is  in  the 
magnets  makes  the  filings  on  the  two 
ends  of  the  magnet  try  to  get  away 
from  each  other.  On  the  other  hand 
\vhen  you  put  a  north  and  south  pole 
together,  they  form  a  union  of  the 
iron  filings. 

Another  strange  thing  about  a  mag- 
net is  tiiat  if  you  break  it  in  two,  each 
half  will  be  a  complete  magnet  in  it- 
self with  a  north  and  south  pole  also, 
and  this  is  true  no  matter  how  many 
times  you  break  it  into  pieces.  l'>om 
this  we  learn  that  each  liny  ])arliclc'  or 


328 


WHAT  A    LODESTONE    IS 


/ 


This  is  a  picture 
of  a  complete  electro 
magnet.  The  magnet 
is  attached  to  the 
arm  of  a  crane  by 
the  loop  in  the  cen- 
ter and  when  the 
magnet  then  comes 
in  contact  with  any 
kind  of  iron  or  steel 
it  lifts  it  as  soon  as 
the  current  is  turned 
on.  By  making  the 
electric  current 
stronger,  greater 
weight  can  be  lifted. 
Many  tons  of  mate- 
rial can  be  lifted  at 
one  time.  An  electro 
magnet  will  do  the 
work  of  many  men 
at  much  less  cost. 


In  this  picture  we  see  the  magnet  lifting  a  great  weight  of  miscellaneous  pieces  of 
scrap  iron.  As  many  as  twenty  tons  can  be  lifted  and  transferred  from  one  place  to 
another  at  one  time. 


WHAT  ELECTRICITY  IS 


329 


molecule  throughout  the  bar  is  a  mag- 
net by  itself. 

Some  things  can  be  magnetized 
while  others  cannot.  JMany  substances 
have  not  the  property  of  magnetizing 
other  substances  when  they  have  once 
been  attracted  by  a  magnet.  These 
are  called  magnetic  substances.  They 
remain  magnetized  only  as  long  as 
they  are  in  touch  with  the  magnet; 
other  substances  when  once  magnetized 
become  permanent  magnets.  Steel  and 
lodestone  have  this  faculty.  A  com- 
pc'ss  needle  is  an  artificial  magnet 
which  becomes  a  permanent  magnet 
when  rubbed  with  a  magnet. 

What  Is  Electricity? 

If  you  pass  a  hard  rubber  comb 
through  your  hair,  in  frosty  weather, 
a  crackling  sound  is  produced,  and  the 
individual  hairs  show  a  tendency  to 
stick  to  the  comb.  After  being  drawn 
through  your  hair  a  few  times,  you  may 
notice  that  the  comb  has  become 
charged  with  electricity.  This  electricity 
is  produced  by  friction.  Not  only  rub- 
ber but  many  other  substances  become 
electrified  by  friction,  such  as  a  bar 
of  sealing  wax  rubbed  with  flannel,  or 
a  glass  rod  rubbed  with  silk,  will  show 
the  same  qualities,  and  these  simple  ex- 
periments teach  us  many  of  the  funda- 
mental facts  about  electricity. 

Some  simple  experiments  will  be 
found  instructive  and  interesting.  Rub 
with  flannel  a  stick  of  sealing  wax  until  it 
is  electrified  and  then  bring  it  close  to  a 
pith  ball  which  should  be  hung  by  a  silk 
thread.  The  pith  ball  will  at  once  be 
attracted  to  the  sealing  wax,  and,  if 
brought  quite  close,  the  ball  will  adhere 
to  the  wax  for  a  few  moments,  and  then 
fly  away  from  it.  The  ball  will  now 
be  repelled  by  the  sealing  wax  instead 
of  being  drawn  toward  it.  Now  take  a 
glass  rod,  rub  it  with  a  silk  cloth  after 
drying  it  thoroughly.  When  the  pith 
ball  is  brought  close  to  the  glass  rod 
it  also  will  at  first  be  attracted  toward 
the  glass  and,  if  brought  in  contact  with 
the  glass,  the  pith  ball  will  adhere  as 
before.  It  will  also  then  fly  away  in 
the   same  way  it  dirl   from  the  sealing 


wax.  Repeat  these  experiments  with 
the  sealing  wax  now  and  you  will  find 
the  ball  will  be  attached,  as  it  was  at 
first,  but  if  it  touches  the  wax  it  will 
again  adhere  for  a  moment  and  then 
fly  away.  By  using  the  sealing  wax  and 
glass  rod  alternately  and  bringing  them 
into  contact  with  the  pith  ball,  you  dis- 
cover that  when  it  is  attracted  by  one, 
it  is  repelled  by  the  other,  and  that,  afer 
it  has  been  in  contact  with  either  for  a 
few  moments  it  is  no  longer  attracted 
by  it. 

We  learn  thus  that  the  electricity  in 
the  glass  and  the  sealing  wax  are  not 
the  same.  To  distinguish  the  two  kinds 
of  attraction,  we  say  the  glass  is 
charged  with  positive,  or  vitreous  elec- 
tricity, while  the  charge  on  the  sealing 
wax  is  called  negative,  or  resinous  elec- 
tricity. 

When  the  pith  ball  was  touched  with 
the  sealing  wax,  it  became  filled  with 
negative  electricity,  and  was  then  no 
longer  attracted  by  the  wax,  but  was 
repelled  by  it  and  attracted  by  the  glass 
rod ;  but  when  the  ball  had  been  filled 
with  positive  electricity,  it  was  repelled 
by  the  glass  and  attracted  by  the  wax. 
We  conclude  from  th'ese  facts  that 
bodies  filled  with  the  same  kind  of  elec- 
tricity repel  each  other,  while  bodies 
filled  with  opposite  kinds  of  electricity 
attract  each  other. 

When  two  substances  are  charged,  as 
we  say,  with  electricity  of  opposite 
kinds  and  are  brought  into  contact, 
and  left  so  for  some  time,  the  two 
charges  disappear,  one  appearing  to 
neutralize  the  other.  From  this,  we 
conclude,  and  rightly,  that  any  sub- 
stance not  electrified,  contains  equal 
amounts  both  positive  and  negative  elec- 
tricity. When,  therefore,  we  rub  a 
piece  of  glass  with  silk,  we  are  not 
creating  electricity,  but  only  separating 
the  different  kinds.  The  positive  elec- 
tricity adheres  to  the  glas.s,  and  the 
negative  remains  behind,  on  the  silk. 
In  the  same  manner,  when  we  electrify 
scaling  wax  with  flamiel  the  negative 
kind  remains  in  the  sealing  wax  and  the 
flannel  becomes  charged  with  the  posi- 
tive.     Whenever   a   body   is   electrified 


330 


WHAT  ELECTRICITY   IS 


Magnets  are  particularly  valuable  in  lift- 
ing raw  material  in  a  steel  mill.  The  red- 
hot  pig-iron,  from  which  steel  is  made,  can 
be  handled  easily  in  this  way,  whereas  it 
would  be  impossible  to  handle  same  by 
hand.  Sometimes  great  quantities  of  iron 
are  broken  up  by  the  magnet.  A  weight  of 
many  tons  is  lifted  by  the  magnet  and 
allowed  to  fall  on  the  material  to  be 
broken  up.  The  weight  falls  as  soon  as 
the  current  is  turned  off. 


n 


\  \ 


Pieces   of   machinery   which   cannot   be   lifted  by  men   on   account   of   their   great   weight 

and   shape   are  handled  easily. 


WHAT  GOOD  AND  BAD  CONDUCTORS  OF  ELECTRICITY  ARE    331 


by  friction,  both  kinds  of  electricity  are 
produced ;  it  is  impossible  to  produce 
one  kind  without  the  other. 

You  must  rub  the  entire  glass  rod 
or  bar  of  sealing  wax  to  electrify  the 
whole  of  it.  If  only  a  part  of  the  glass 
rod  or  sealing  wax  is  rubbed,  only  that 
part  becomes  electrified,  as  may  be 
shown  by  trying  to  attract  a  pith 
ball  with  the  part  that  has  not  been 
rubbed. 

If,  however,  the  charged  part  of  the 
sealing  wax  is  brought  into  contact  with 
a  metal  rod  resting  on,,  say,  a  drinking 
glass,  the  rod  becomes  charged,  not 
only  where  it  is  brought  into  contact, 
but  all  over  its  surface.  Substances 
over  which  electricity  flows  readily  are 
called  conductors  of  electricity.  All 
metals  are  of  this  kind.  Things  like 
glass  and  sealing  wax  over  v/hich  elec- 
tricity does  not  flow  readily,  are  called 
non-conductors,  or  insulators.  Water, 
the  human  body,  and  the  earth  are  good 
conductors  and  rubber,  porcelain,  most 
resins,  and  dry  air  are  non-conductors. 

You  have  already  learned  that  sub- 
tances  charged  with  opposite  kinds  of 
electricity  attract  each  other,  and  sub- 
stances charged  with  the  same  kind  repel 
each  other.  We  will  try  to  discover  why 
substances  charged  with  either  kind  of 
electricity  attract  small  light  objects, 
such  as  pith  balls,  when  these  latter  are 
not  charged  with  electricity.  As  we 
have  discovered,  all  substances  which 
have  remained  undisturbed  have  both 
kinds  of  electricity  present  in  them,  in 
equal  amounts.  Now,  when  an  un- 
charged body  is  brought  near  a  charged 
body,  the  two  kinds  of  electricity  in  the 
uncharged  body  have  a  tendency  to 
separate.  The  kind  opposite  in  char- 
acter, to  that  on  the  charged  body,  is 
attracted  toward  the  charged  body,  and 
the  other  kind  is  repelled.  Thus,  if  our 
bar  of  sealing  wax,  charged  with,  let 
us  say,  negative  electricity,  is  brought 
near  a  pith  ball,  the  positive  electricity 
in  the  ball  is  attracted  to  the  side  nearest 
the  scaling  wax,  and  the  negative  elec- 
tricity is  repelled  to  the  farther  side.  As 
the  positive  electricity  on  the  pith  is 
nearer  to  the  sealing  wax  than  the  neg- 


ative, its  attraction  for  the  negative 
charge,  on  the  sealing  wax,  is  stronger 
than  the  repulsion  between  the  negative 
electricities  of  the  two  objects,  and  con- 
sequently, the  ball  is  attracted  to  the 
sealing  wax.  If  the  charged  sealing 
wax  is  brought  near  a  good  conductor, 
which  is  supported  on  some  non-con- 
ducting substance,  such  as  glass,  silk, 
or  rubber,  over  which  electricity  will 
not  flow,  a  much  more  complete  separa- 
tion of  the  two  kinds  of  electricity  oc- 
curs on  the  conductor  than  on  the  pith 
ball.  If  the  charged  sealing  wax  is 
brought  near  one  end  of  a  metal  rod  so 
placed,  the  charge  of  negative  electric- 
ity upon  the  sealing  wax  will  attract 
the  positive  electricity  on  the  metal,  to 
that  end,  and  will  repel  the  negative 
electricity  to  the  other  end.  When  a 
pith  ball,  hung  by  the  silk  thread,  is 
brought  close  to  either  end  of  the  metal 
rod,  when  the  charged  sealing  wax  is 
near  the  other  end,  the  pith  ball  will  be 
attracted  toward  the  rod ;  but  will  not 
be  attracted  if  placed  close  to  the  middle 
of  the  rod.  This  proves  that  the  metal 
rod  is  electrified  only  in  the  parts  near- 
est to  and  farthest  away  from  the 
charged  body.  The  two  kinds  of  elec- 
tricity neutralize  each  other  at  the  parts 
in  between. 

If  now  we  take  two  conductors  and 
place  them  end  to  end,  we  have  for  all 
practical  purposes,  a  single  conductor. 
It  has  the  decided  advantage,  however, 
of  being  easily  separated  into  two 
parts.  When  an  electrified  substance  is 
brought  close  to  one  end  of  such  a  con- 
ductor, a  charge  of  one  kind  is  attracted 
to  the  near  portion  of  the  conductor, 
and  a  charge  of  the  opposite  kind  is 
repelled  to  the  farther  part.  By  sepa- 
rating the  two  parts  of  the  conductor, 
we  learn  that  one  of  the  ends,  which 
have  been  in  contact,  is  charged  with 
j)Ositivc  and  the  other  with  negative 
electricity. 

This  act  of  separating  the  two  kinds 
of  electricity  upon  a  conductor  by 
means  of  a  charge  upon  another  body 
which  is  not  permitted  to  come  into 
contact  with  the  conductor,  is  called  in- 
duction, and  two  charges  of  electricity 


332 


WHAT  A  LEYDEN  JAR  IS 


produced  in  this  way  are  known  as  in- 
duced charges. 

There  are  other  ways  in  which  a 
charge  of  electricity  may  be  induced 
upon  a  conductor.  One  end  of  the  con- 
ductor may  be  connected  with  the  earth 
by  means  of  some  good  conducting  ma- 
terial, and  the  charged  substance 
brought  close  to  the  other  end.  A 
charge,  opposite  in  character  to  the  in- 
itial charge,  is  attracted  to  the  end  of 
the  conductor  that  is  near  the  charged 
body,  and  the  electricity  of  the  opposite 
kind  is  repelled,  through  the  conductor 
to  the  earth.  By  securing  the  connec- 
tion with  the  earth,  while  the  charged 
body  is  near  the  conductor,  a  charge  is 
obtained  upon  the  conductor,  that  is 
opposite  in  character  to  the  initial 
charge.  This  method  of  charging  con- 
ductors, by  induction,  is  practically  the 
same  as  the  one  first  described,  for  the 
earth  is  a  conductor  of  electricity,  and 
corresponds  to  the  more  distant  part  of 
the  two-piece  conductor. 

An  instrument,  known  as  the  elec- 
trophorus,  is  especially  designed  for  the 
production  of  electric  charges  by  induc- 
tion in  the  manner  just  described.  This 
instrument  consists  of  a  brass  plate, 
on  an  insulating  handle  of  glass,  and  a 
disk  of  sealing  wax,  fitted  into  a  brass 
dish,  whose  edges  rise  somewhat  higher 
than  the  surface  of  the  wax.  In  using 
the  electrophorus  the  brass  dish,  or  sole, 
is  placed  upon  some  support  that  will 
conduct  electricity,  and  the  sealing  wax 
disk  is  then  rubbed  vigorously  with  a 
piece  of  flannel,  or  catskin,  which  elec- 
trifies the  sealing  wax,  with  negative 
electricity.  The  brass  plate  is  then 
taken  by  the  glass  handle  and  brought 
close  to  the  charged  sealing  wax.  The 
charge  of  negative  electricity  on  the 
wax  attracts  a  charge  of  positive  elec- 
tricity to  the  under  surface  of  the  plate 
and  repels  a  negative  charge  to  its  up- 
per surface.  If  the  charged  plate  is 
now  brought  into  contact  with  the  edge 
of  the  brass  dish  the  negative  charge, 
on  the  back  of  the  plate,  flows  away, 
through  the  legs  of  the  dish,  to  the 
earth,  but  the  positive  charge  remains 
on  the  under  surface,  where  it  is  bound, 


by  the  attraction  of  the  negative  charge 
on  the  disk  of  sealing  wax.  If  the  brass 
plate  is  now  removed,  it  will  be  found 
to  be  charged  with  positive  electricity. 

The  negative  charge  upon  the  sealing 
wax  is  not  reduced  or  diminished  by 
its  action  in  charging  the  brass  plate, 
and  it  is  possible  to  charge  the  plate 
an  indefinite  number  of  times  by  means 
of  one  charge  on  the  sealing  wax. 

The  charges  of  electricity,  produced 
in  any  of  the  ways  that  have  been 
described,  are  necessarily  small,  and 
the  disturbance  produced,  when  thev 
are  destroyed  by  bringing  oppositely 
charged  conductors  together,  is  very 
slight,  merely  a  little  snapping  noise 
and,  perhaps,  a  small  spark,  that  seems 
to  leap  from  the  positively  charged  con- 
ductor to  the  negatively  charged  one, 
when  they  come  very  close  together.  By 
the  use  of  electrical  machines  of  various 
kinds,  in  some  of  which  the  electric- 
ity is  produced  by  friction,  and  in 
others  by  induction,  conductors  may  be 
charged  with  much  larger  quantities  of 
electricity,  and  the  disturbance  pro- 
duced by  their  discharge  is  greatly  in- 
creased. The  noise  produced  is  louder 
and  the  spark  much  brighter,  and  leaps 
from  one  conductor  to  the  other,  while 
they  are  much  farther  apart.  It  is  pos- 
sible to  produce  still  larger  charges  of 
electricity  upon  conductors  if  they  are 
arranged  so  as  to  form  what  are  called 
condensers. 

What  Is  a  Leyden  Jar? 

One  of  the  commonest  forms  of  con- 
denser is  the  Leyden  jar,  which  is  so 
named  because  it  was  invented  at  Ley- 
den, in  Holland.  This  is  a  glass  jar,  upon 
the  outside  of  which  is  fastened  a  coat- 
ing of  tinfoil,  that  covers  the  bottom  of 
the  jar  and  extends  two-thirds  of  the 
way  up  the  sides.  Inside  the  jar  there  is 
a  similar  coating  of  tinfoil,  and  through 
the  top  of  the  jar,  which  is  usually 
made  of  wood,  extends  a  metal  rod.  On 
the  upper  end  of  the  rod,  there  is  a 
metal  ball,  and,  at  the  lower  end,  is 
attached  a  chain  which  runs  down  to 
the  bottom  of  the  jar  and  rests  upon 
the  inner  tinfoil  coating. 


HOW   ELECTRICITY  WAS   DISCOVERED 


333 


In  using  the  Leyden  jar,  the  ball  on 
the  metal  rod  that  runs  through  the  top 
of  the  jar  is  connected  with  an  electrical 
machine,  and  the  jar  is  supported  upon 
some  conducting  material,  through 
which  electricity  may  be  conveyed  from 
the  outer  coating  of  tinfoil  to  the  earth. 
If  the  inner  coating  of  tinfoil  is  now 
charged  with  positive  electricity,  by 
means  of  the  electrical  machine,  it  in- 
duces, upon  the  outer  coating  of  foil,  a 
charge  of  negative  electricity,  which  is 
bound  by  the  attraction  of  the  positive 
charge  on  the  inside  of  the  jar.  At 
the  same  time,  the  positive  electricity, 
on  the  outer  coating  of  foil,  is  repelled, 
through  the  conducting  support,  to  the 
earth. 

The  charge  that  can  be  communicated 
to  the  coating  of  the  foil,  inside  the# 
Leyden  jar,  is  greatly  increased  by  the 
presence  of  a  charge  of  the  opposite 
kind  of  electricity,  on  the  coating  on  the 
outside  of  the  jar.  Each  of  these 
charges  attracts  the  other,  through  the 
glass  of  the  jar,  and  serves  to  bind  or 
hold  it.  If  either  coating  of  foil  is  re- 
moved, the  charge  on  the  other  coating 
tends  to  fly  off  the  tinfoil,  and  will  im- 
mediately do  so,  if  a  conductor  is 
brought  near.  It  is  because  the  negative 
effects  of  the  initial  charge,  inside  the 
jar,  and  of  the  induced  charge  outside 
the  jar,  make  it  possible  to  communi- 
cate, to  each  coating  of  foil,  a  larger 
charge  than  it  could  otherwise  be  made 
to  receive,  that  a  Leyden  jar  is  called 
a  condenser. 

When  a  Leyden  jar  is  disconnected 
from  the  electrical  machine,  two  oppo- 
site charges  of  electricity  are  present  on 
it,  one  inside  and  the  other  on  the  out- 
side. If  the  two  coats  of  tinfoil  are  now 
connected,  by  means  of  a  condenser, 
they  will  at  once  neutralize  each  other, 
and  the  jar  will  be  discharged.  A  jar 
may  be  discharged,  by  simply  taking 
holfl  of  the  tinfoil  on  the  outside  of  the 
jar,  with  one  hand,  and  touching  the 
metal  rod,  running  through  the  top  of 
the  jar,  with  the  other.  If  you  do  this, 
there  will  be  a  sudden  flow  of  clectricitv 
through  your  body,  your  muscles  will 
give  a  sudden  jerk,  and  you  will  feel  a 


peculiar  tingling  sensation.       In  other 
words,  you  will  have  received  a  shock. 

It  is  not  necessary,  for  the  hand  that 
does  not  grasp  the  jar,  actually  to  touch 
the  rod  that  runs  through  the  top.  If 
the  hand  is  brought  toward  the  rod, 
rather  slowly,  you  will  see  a  spark  leap 
across  the  space  between  the  rod  and 
your  hand,  while  your  hand  is  still  some 
distance  from  the  rod.  The  greater  the 
distance,  across  which  the  spark  leaps, 
the  brighter  will  be  the  spark,  and  the 
stronger  the  shock  produced.  This 
distance  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the 
length  of  the  spark,  and  it  indicates 
the  size  of  the  charges  on  the  tinfoil 
coatings  of  the  jar. 

Who  Discovered  Electricity? 

It  may  seem  difficult  to  believe,  that 
the  tiny  spark  and  weak  snapping  noise 
that  are  produced  when  a  Leyden  jar  is 
discharged,  are,  in  many  respects,  the 
same  as  lightning  and  thunder,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  true.  This  was  proved 
by  Benjamin  Franklin,  about  the  middle 
of  the  18th  century,  in  the  following 
way.  One  afternoon,  when  a  thunder 
shower  was  approaching,  he  sent  up  a 
kite,  to  the  string  of  which  he  fastened 
a  large  metal  key;  and  to  the  key,  a 
ribbon  of  non-conducting  silk,  which  he 
held  in  his  hand.  When  the  rain  had 
been  falling  long  enough  to  wet  the 
string  thoroughly,  it  become  a  good 
conductor  of  electricity,  and  Franklin 
found  that  the  key  had  become  charged 
with  electricity  transmitted  from  the 
clouds,  along  the  wet  kite  string.  The 
non-conducting  silk  ribbon,  that  formed 
the  continuation  of  the  kite  string,  from 
the  key  to  his  hand,  was  employed  to 
prevent  him  from  receiving  shocks  from 
the  passage  of  the  electricity,  through 
his  body,  to  the  earth. 

Up  to  this  point,  your  attention  has 
been  directed  in  charges  of  electricity. 
You  have  been  told  how  they  may  be 
produced,  what  some  of  their  leading 
properties  are,  and  what  effects  they 
produce,  when  they  are  discharged. 
The  subject  that  will  now  be  exi)laiiied 
to  you  is  that  of  electric  currents. 


334 


WHAT  AN   ELECTRIC   CURRENT   IS 


What  Is  an  Electric  Current? 

By  an  electric  current,  is  meant  a 
flow  of  electricity  along  a  conductor. 
The  flow  of  electricity,  through  your 
body,  when  you  receive  an  electric  shock, 
is  a  current,  but  it  lasts  only  for  an  in- 
stant, and  it  is  difficult  to  learn  much 
about  its  nature.  By  the  use  of  various 
devices,  it  is  possible  to  produce  cur- 
rents, that  will  continue  as  long  as  we 
want  them,  so  that  we  are  enabled  to 
study  their  properties  quite  thoroughly. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  simplest  forms 
of  apparatus,  for  producing  electric  cur- 
rents, is  that  which  is  known  as  the 
voltaic  cell.  This  form  of  apparatus 
may  very  easily  be  constructed.  Pour 
some  water  into  a  glass  jar,  and  add  a 
little  sulphuric  acid.  Now  place  in  the 
water  a  strip  of  -clean  zinc  and  one  of 
clean  copper.  Do  not  let  the  strips  of 
metal  touch  in  the  water,  but  connect 
them  outside  the  water  by  means  of  a 
piece  of  wire.  When  this  has  been  done, 
a  current  of  electricity  will  be  sent  up 
along  the  wire  and  through  the  water 
between  the  two  strips  of  zinc  and  cop- 
per. This  current  is  said  to  flow  along 
the  wire  from  the  copper,  which  Is 
called  the  positive  pole  of  the  cell,  to 
the  zinc,  which  is  called  the  negative 
pole.  In  the  liquid  in  the  cell  (i.e.,  the 
jar),  the  current  travels  from  the  zinc 
to  the  copper,  thus  completing  what  is 
called  the  electric  circuit.  Whenever 
the  circuit  it  broken,  that  is,  whenever 
there  is  a  gap  made  in  the  wire  con- 
necting the  poles,  or  anything  else  is 
done  to  destroy  the  completeness  of  the 
path,  along  which  the  current  travels, 
the  current  ceases ;  consequently,  when 
it  is  desirable  to  stop  the  current,  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  cut  the  wire  con- 
necting the  two  strips  of  copper  and 
zinc. 

The  production  of  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity, by  means  of  an  apparatus  of  this 
sort,  depends  upon  the  chemical  action 
of  the  acid  in  the  water  upon  the  strip 
of  zinc.  As  long  as  the  acid  continues 
to  act  upon  the  zinc,  the  current  is  pro- 
duced, and  when  the  acid  ceases  to  act 
upon  the  zinc,  the  current  ceases  to  flow. 


If  the  zinc  is  clean,  the  chemical  action 
of  the  acid  ceases,  whenever  the  circuit  is 
broken,  and  consequently,  when  the  cell 
is  not  being  used  to  produce  a  current, 
the  zinc  is  not  destroyed  by  the  acid. 
But  if  the  zinc  is  not  clean,  small  elec- 
tric currents  are  set  up,  within  the 
liquid,  between  the  zinc  and  the  impuri- 
ties on  its  surface,  and  around  the  points 
where  these  impurities  lie  the  acid  acts 
upon  the  zinc  and  dissolves  it.  This  ac- 
tion of  the  acid  upon  the  zinc,  when 
the  circuit  is  broken,  is  known  as  local 
action,  and  it  is  very  desirable  to  pre- 
vent it,  as  far  as  possible.  For  this 
purpose  the  zinc  is  often  rubbed  with 
mercury,  whch  soaks  into  the  zinc  and 
forms  a  film  on  its  surface,  upon  which 
the  impurities  float.  This  treatment  of 
the  zinc  is  known  as  amalgamation,  and 
it  serves  to  prevent  almost  all  the 
local  action,  due  to  impurities  of  the 
zinc. 

Many  other  substances,  besides  zinc 
and  copper,  have  been  found  capable 
of  yielding  an  electric  current,  when 
placed  in  a  suitable  liquid,  and  many 
other  fluids,  besides  water  that  contains 
a  little  sulphuric  acid,  have  been  em- 
ployed to  act  upon  the  zinc  and  copper, 
or  the  substances  used  in  their  stead. 
Numerous  cells  of  difl"erent  kinds  have, 
therefore,  been  devised,  but,  in  all  of 
them,  the  current  is  produced  by  chem- 
ical action.  IMost  of  them  contain  a 
liquid  of  some  sort,  which  is  called  the 
exciting  fluid,  and  two  solid  substances, 
which  are  called  the  elements  of  the 
cell.  One  of  these  elements  is  always 
much  more  susceptible  to  the  chemical 
action  of  the  exciting  fluid,  than  the 
other,  and  this  one  is  known  as  the  posi- 
tive element.  The  other  element,  upon 
which  the  exciting  fluid  may  have  no 
action,  is  called  the  negative  element. 
In  cells  in  which  the  elements  are  zinc 
and  copper,  the  zinc  is  always  the  posi- 
tive element.  This  may  seem  strange 
to  you,  for  you  have  already  learned 
that  the  zinc  is  the  negative  pole  of 
the  cell,  but,  to  avoid  confusion,  you 
must  fix  well  in  your  mind  the  fact 
that  the  zinc  is  not  the  positive  element 


HOW  MAGNETS  ARE   MADE 


335 


of  a  voltaic  cell,  but  its  negative  pole, 
and  that  the  copper,  which  forms  the 
negative  element  is  the  positive  pole  of 
the  cell.  The  currents  produced  by  the 
various  forms  of  voltaic  cells,  vary  con- 
siderably in  strength,  but  none  of  them 
are  very  strong.  In  order  to  obtain  a 
stronger  current,  a  number  of  cells  must 
be  used  together.  Such  a  collection  of 
cells  forms  a  voltaic  battery,  and  in 
some  instances,  as  many  as  fifty  thou- 
sand cells  have  been  used  in  a  single 
battery. 

We  have  already  learned  in  our  study 
of  water  that  it  may  be  separated  into 
its  elementary  gases  by  sending  an 
electric  current  through  it.  The  effect 
is  a  chemical  one.  Water,  however,  is 
not  the  only  substance  that  is  decom- 
posed by  electricity ;  almost  all  chemical 
compounds  may  be  decomposed  by  the 
passage  of  a  current  through  them,  pro- 
vided a  current  of  sufficient  strength 
is  used. 

Another  effect  of  the  current  is  its 
heating  effect.  It  has  been  found  that  ' 
the  passage  of  an  electric  current, 
through  any  body,  is  always  productive . 
of  a  certain  amount  of  heat.  The 
amount  of  heat  produced  depends  upon 
the  strength  of  the  current  of  electricity, 
and  the  resistance  to  its  passage  that 
is  offered  by  the  body  through  which  it 
travels.  This  amount  is  increased  by 
increasing  either  the  strength  of  the 
current  or  the  resistance  of  the  con- 
ductor along  which  it  travels.  We  have 
already  learned,  that  some  substances 
allow  electricity  to  pass  over  them  very 
readily,  and  are  therefore  called  con- 
ductors, while  substances  through  which 
electricity  does  not  flow  readily  are 
known  as  non-conductors.  No  sub- 
stance is  a  perfect  non-conductor,  for 
electricity  can  be  made  to  pass  through 
any  substance,  if  the  current  is  suf- 
ficiently powerful.  Neither  is  any  sub- 
stance a  perfect  conductor,  for  all  sub- 
stances offer  some  resistance  to  the  pas- 
sage of  an  electric  current.  Those  sub- 
stances that  are  ordinarily  considered 
good  conductors  offer  varying  degrees 
of  resistance  to  electric  currents.  For 
example,  a  copper  wire  offers  less  re- 


sistance than  an  iron  wire  of  the  same 
length  and  diameter. 

The  resistance  of  a  body  depends  not 
only  upon  its  material,  but  also  upon  its 
length  and  size.  In  conductors  of  the 
same  material,  the  resistance  is  directly 
proportional  to  the  length  of  the  con- 
ductor, and  inversely  proportional  to 
the  square  of  its  diameter.  This  is  not 
surprising,  for  an  electric  current  bears 
a  strong  resemblance  to  a  current  of 
water,  in  many  of  its  properties,  and 
you  know  that  it  is  harder  to  force 
water  through  long,  narrow  pipes,  than 
through  short,  wade  ones. 

From  what  has  been  stated  about  re- 
sistance, you  may  see,  that  a  current 
will  produce  more  heat,  in  passing 
through  a  long  fine  wire,  than  through 
a  shorter  and  thicker  one,  and  that, 
of  two  conductors  of  the  same  length 
and  size,  but  of  different  material,  one 
may  be  heated  much  more  by  a  current 
than  will  another. 

A  third  effect  of  the  electric  current, 
which  has  not  previously  been  men- 
tioned is  its  magnetizing  effect.  It  is 
upon  this,  that  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant effects  of  electricity  depend. 

By  coiling  a  wire  around  a  bar  of 
iron  or  steel,  and  then  sending  an  elec- 
tric current  through  it,  the  piece  of 
iron,  or  steel,  is  made  to  show  magnetic 
properties.  By  this  is  meant,  as  you 
doubtless  know,  that  the  iron  will  now 
attract  other  pieces  of  iron,  or  steel, 
to  it.  The  strength  of  this  attraction 
depends  upon  the  strength  of  the  cur- 
rent, and  upon  the  number  of  turns  of 
wire  around  the  bar.  By  increasing 
either  the  strength  of  the  current,  or 
the  nimiber  of  turns  in  the  coil  of  wire, 
around  the  bar  of  iron,  the  strength 
of  its  magnetic  attraction  is  increased. 
When  the  current  is  stopped,  the  mag- 
netic properties  of  the  iron  disappear 
almost  completely.  A  magnet,  that  de- 
pends upon  a  current  of  electricity  for 
its  magnetic  power,  is  called  an  electro- 
magnet. 

Besides  electro-magnets  there  arc 
others,  which  arc  called  permanent 
magnets.  Flcctro-'magnets  are  com- 
posed of  soft  iron,  the  softer  the  better, 


336 


WHY  A   BEE   HAS   A   STING 


and,  as  soon  as  the  current  of  elec- 
tricity ceases  to  flow  around  them,  their 
magnetic  properties  disappear.  Perma- 
nent magnets,  on  the  contrary,  are  made 
of  steel,  and  their  magnetism  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  action  of  a  current  of 
electricity.  No  coil  of  wire  is  wound 
around  them,  and  no  current  is  em- 
ployed to  maintain  their  magnetic  prop- 
erties. A  piece  of  steel  may  be  made 
to  become  a  permanent  magnet,  by  pass- 
ing a  current  of  electricity,  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  through  a  coil  of  wire 
wound  around  it,  or  by  allowing  a 
piece  of  steel  to  remain  for  some  time 
in  contact  with  a  strong  magnet.  When 
a  current  of  electricity  passes  through 
a  coil  of  wire,  wound  around  a  bar  of 
steel,  it  takes  longer  to  magnatize  the 
steel  than  it  would  to  magnetize  iron, 
but,  when  the  current  ceases,  the  mag- 
netism does  not  all  disappear  from  the 
steel.  A  portion  of  it  remains,  and  the 
steel  becomes   permanently   magnetic. 

If  a  thin  bar  of  steel  is  magnetized, 
and  is  then  suspended  by  its  middle,  so 
that  it  can  spring  freely,  it  will  be  found 
that  one  end  tends  to  point  toward  the 
north,  and  the  other  toward  the  south. 
Whenever  the  bar  is  swimg  out  of  this 
position,  it  swings  back  to  it,  and  if 
the  north  end  is  turned  entirely  around 
to  the  south,  it  does  not  remain,  but 
swings  back  to  its  former  position.  This 
shows  that  there  is  a  difference  in  the 
magnetism  at  the  two  ends  of  the  mag- 
net. To  indicate  this  difference,  the 
north-seeking  end  of  a  magnet  is  called 
the  positive  pole  of  the  magnet,  and 
the  south-seeking  end  is  known  as  the 
negative  pole. 

By  suspending  two  bar  magnets,  in 
the  manner  described,  it  can  be  shown 
that  the  positive  and  negative  poles  of 
the  magnets  act  like  positive  and  nega- 
tive charges  of  electricity.  Poles  of  the 
same  kind  repel,  and  poles  of  opposite 
kinds  attract,  each  other. 

Permanent  magnets  are  usually  made 
in  two  forms,  either  straight  or  horse- 
shoe shaped.  A  compass  needle,  as 
has  been  shown,  is  an  example  of  a 
straight  magnet.  The  horseshoe  vari- 
ety, which  has  a  little  bar  of  iron,  called 


the  keeper,  laid  across  the  poles  is  a 
common  toy.  Electro-magnets  are  sel- 
dom seen,  except  in  electrical  instru- 
ments or  machinery.  The  pictures 
shown  on  the  following  pages  give  us 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  some  of  the  won- 
ders performed  by  these  electro-mag- 
nets. Tons  and  tons  of  material  are 
picked  up  and  held  securely  by  one  of 
these  magnets  as  easily  as  you  can 
hold  on  to  an  apple. 

Why  Does  a  Bee  Have  a  Sting? 

The  bee's  sting  is  given  him  as  a 
weapon  of  defence.  Primarily  it  is  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  enabling  him  to 
help  defend  the  hive  from  his  enemies. 
Sometimes  when  he  is  attacked  away 
from  the  hive  he  uses  his  sting  to  de- 
fend himself.  When  he  does  so,  he  in- 
jects a  little  quantity  of  poison  through 
the  sting  and  that  is  what  causes  the 
inflammation. 

How  Does  a  Honey  Bee  Live  ? 

The  bee  lives  in  swarms  of  from  10,- 
000  to  50,000  in  one  house.  In  the  wild 
state  the  house  or  hive  is  located  m  h 
hollow  tree  generally.  These  swarms 
contain  three  classes  of  bees,  the  per- 
fect females  or  queen  bees,  the  males  or 
drones,  and  the  imperfectly  developed 
females,  or  working  bees.  In  each  hive 
or  swarm  there  is  only  one  perfect  fe- 
male or  queen  whose  sole  mission  is  to 
propagate  the  species.  The  queen  is 
much  larger  than  the  other  bees.  When 
she  dies  a  young  working  bee  three 
days  old  is  selected  as  the  new  queen. 
Her  cell  is  enlarged  by  breaking  down 
the  partitions,  her  food  is  changed  to 
"royal  jelly  or  paste"  and  she  grows 
into  a  queen  bee.  The  queen  lays  2,000 
eggs  per  day.  The  drones  do  not  work 
and  after  performing  their  duty  as 
males  are  killed  by  the  working  bees. 
The  female  bees  do  the  work  of  gather- 
ing the  honey.  They  collect  the  honey 
from  the  flowers,  they  build  the  wax 
cells,  and  feed  the  young  bees.  When 
a  colony  becomes  overstocked,  a  new 
colony  is  sent  out  to  establish  a  new 
hive  under  the  direction  of  a  queen 
bee. 


Probably  no  form  of  construction  is  so  interesting  to  everyone  as  the  construction  of 
a  huge  steamer,  a  wonderful  "city"  afloat,  with  its  thousands  of  passengers,  its  thousand 
officers  and  crew,  the  tremendous  stores  of  provisions  and  water,  and  the  precision  with 
which  the  great  ship  plows  its  way  from  one  shore  to  the  other. 

This  picture  shows  the  first  work  in  building  a  modern  steamer,  laying  the  keel  and 
center  plate,  upon  which  the  massive  hull  is  constructed.  The  rivets  are  driven  by 
hydraulic  power,  noiselessly  but  firmly.  In  the  new  "Britannic"— largest  of  all  British 
steamers  and  the  newest  (1915)  modern  leviathan— over  270  tons  of  rivets — nearly  three 
million  in  all— were  required  to  give  staunchness  to  the  steel-plated  hull.  The  cellular 
double  bottom  is  constructed  between  the  bottom  and  top  of  the  center  plate. 


A  LONGER  VIEW  OF  TUE   ABOVE  OPERATION. 


338      THE  CRADLE  OF  A  STEAMSHIP  CALLED  A  "GANTRY 


VIEW    NEAR    THE    BOW. 


The  "ribs"  of  the  "Piritannic,"  showing  the  deck  divisions,  in  outline.     The  huge  "gantry" 
or  cradle  of  steel,   in  which   "Britannic"   was  built,   cost  $1,000,000. 


THE  DOUBLE  BOTTOM   OF   MODERN    STEAMSHIPS 


339 


THE      BRITANNIC       OF    THE    WHITE    STAR    LINE.       VIEW    OF    THE    DOUBLE    BOTTOM    PLATED. 


THE    HUGE    STEEL   SKELETON    OF   THE   "UKITANNIc''    UEFOKE   THE    PLATES    WERE    PLACED   ON    IT. 

The  plates  arc  seen  piled   in   flu-   foreKroiiiifl.     The  largest  of  tlicm   arc  36   feet  long  and 

wci^di   4'/i    Ions   each. 


340 


THE   SHIP   READY  TO   LAUNCH 


NOT    A    "skyscraper,"    BUT    A    FLOATING    HOTEL    IN    PROCESS    OF    CONSTRUCTION. 

THE    HULL    ITSELF    IS    64'    3"    DEEP,    AND    FROM    THE    KEEL    TO    THE    TOP    OF    THE    FUNNELS    IS    175 
FEEI.      THE    NAVIGATING    BRIDGE    IS    IO4'    6"    ABOVE    THE    KEEL. 


READY   TO  LAUNCH. 


The  '"Britannic"  on  the  ways  at  Belfast   (Harland  &  Wolff's).     The  largest  gantries  ever 

constructed  to  hold  a  ship. 


THE  MACHINERY  USED   IN   LAUNCHING  A  SHIP  341 


FORWARD  LAUNCHING   GEAR    (hyDRAULIC), 

The  snip  went  from  the  ways  into  the  water  in  62  seconds  and  was  stopped  in  twice  her 

own   length. 


THF.    niJCE    HtnX    LKFT    THK    WAYS     EASILY    AND    CREATm    ONLY    A    SMAfl,    SPLASH. 


342 


A   CLOSE   VIEW  OF  A   SHIP'S   RUDDER 


** 


'RRITANNIC      HKI.n   IT    Tt'ST   AFTER   THF.   r.AfXCTI. 


"britaxxic."     the    ioo-tox   rudder,   the    (cexter")    tureixe   propeller   shaft   and   one  of 

THE   "wing"    propeller    SHAFTS. 


WHAT  A   SHIP'S   PROPELLER  LOOKS   LIKE 


343 


THE  COMPLETED  SHIP 


The  center  (the  turhinc)  pi'ipi  llcr,  i6'  6"  in  (li;inuter,  cast  of  one  sohd  \)\i.iv  of 
manRanese  bronze,  22  tf)ns  in  weight.  Tlic  "I'.ritaiinic"  like  "Olympic,"  is  propelled  by 
two  sets  of  reciprocating  engines,  tlie  exhaust  steam  from  these  hcinR  rensed  in  the  low- 
pressure  tnrhine,  cfTectinR  great  economy  in  coal.  'J  he  two  "wing"  propellers  are 
23'   (>"    in    diameter   and    weigh   3K   tons   each. 


344 


WHAT  A   SHIP'S  TURBINE  LOOKS    LIKE 


The  turbine  motor,  130  tons  in  weight  (Parsons  type).  The  steam  plays  upon  the  blades 
with  such  power  that  they  develop  16,000  horse-power  and  revolve  the  propeller  (turbine) 
165  times  a  minute.  The  motor  is  12  feet  in  diameter,  13'  8"  long,  the  blades  (numbering 
thousands)  ranging  from  18  to  25}^  inches  in  length. 


-"^^^ 


THE  IMMENSE  TURBINE   MOTOR   FULLY  ENCASED— WEIGHT  420  TONS. 


HOW  A  FUNNEL  APPEARS  BEFORE   IT  IS  IN   PLACE 


345 


fai^WiWmMtJMMKal'.  UMiHia't^J?! 


One  of  the  four  immense  funnels — without  the  outer  casing.     Each  is  125   feet  above  the 
hull  of  the  ship  and  measures  24'  6"  by  19'  o". 


34C) 


WHAT  A   GREAT   STEAMSHIP  WOULD 


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348 


WHAT  WATER    IS   MADE   OF 


What  Is  Water  Made   Of? 

Every  kind  of  substance  in  the  world 
is  made  up  of  tiny  j)ortions,  each  of 
which  is  distinctly  just  what  the  whole 
mass  is,  but  which  are  so  small  you 
cannot  see  them.  A  pile  of  sand,  or  a 
cupful  of  sugar  or  salt  consists  of  a 
great  many  small  grains.  A  cup  of 
water  too  is  made  up  of  what  we  would 
call  small  grains  of  water,  or  what  we 
would  call  grains  of  water  if  we  could 
tliink  of  them  in  the  same  way  as  we 
do  sugar  or  salt  or  sand.  These  par- 
ticles are  so  small  that  they  could  not 
be  seen  separately,  even  if  the  particles 
ciid  not  have  the  ability  to  stick  so  close 
together  that  we  could  not  distinguish 
them  even  if  they  were  large  enough 
to  be  seen. 

The  word  used  in  describing  these 
tiny  particles  in  any  substance,  water, 
sugar,  sand,  salt  or  anything  else  is 
molecule. 

What  Is  a  Molecule? 

The  word  molecule  means  "smallest 
mass,"  which  indicates  the  very  small- 
est division  that  can  be  made  of  any 
substance  without  destroying  its  iden- 
tity. Every  substance  is  made  up  of 
molecules,  and  in  many  cases  the  mole- 
cules of  one  substance  will  mix  with 
those  of  another  substance,  while  in 
other  cases  they  will  not.  When  you 
dissolve  sugar  in  water  or  melt  lead  or 
change  water  into  steam,  the  physical 
body  of  the  substance  is  changed,  but 
the  molecules  remain  as  they  were. 
They  are  only  changed  in  so  far  as 
their  relations  to  each  other  and  to 
tliose  of  another  substance  are  con- 
cerned. 

How  Do  We  Know  a  Thing  Is  Solid, 
Liquid  or  Gas? 

The  relations  of  the  molecules  in  any 
substance  to  each  other  is  what  deter- 
mines whether  a  substance  is  a  solid,  a 
liquid  or  a  gas.  A  gas  is  a  substance 
in  which  the  molecules  are  constantly 
moving  rapidly  about  among  each  other, 
but  always  in  straight  lines.  A  liquid 
substance  is  one  in  which  the  mole- 
cules are  also  constantly  moving  about 


but  which  do  not  move  in  straight  lines. 
Solids  are  substances  in  which  the 
molecules  stick  together  in  one  position 
by  the  power  of  cohesion  which  they 
have.  Cohesion  means  the  power  of 
sticking  together. 

How  Big  Is  a  Molecule? 

We  do  not  as  yet  know  all  there  is 
to  be  learned  about  molecules.  We 
know  through  the  wonders  of  chem- 
istry that  small  as  a  molecule  is,  it  is 
still  made  up  of  smaller  particles  called 
atoms.  An  atom  is  the  smallest  di- 
vision of  anything  that  can  be  imag- 
ined. We  have  found  by  chemistry 
that  even  a  molecule  is  capable  of  be- 
ing divided,  i.e.,  it  is  made  up  of  still 
smaller  particles,  but  molecules  are 
small  enough.  An  eminent  scientist, 
Sir  William  Thomson,  has  given  us 
probably  the  nearest  approach  to  a  cor- 
rect way  of  saying  something  of  the 
size  of  a  molecule.  "If  a  drop  of  wa- 
ter were  magnified  to  the  size  of  the 
earth,  the  molecules  would  each  oc- 
cupy spaces  greater  than  those  filled 
by  small  shot  and  smaller  than  those 
occupied  by  cricket  balls." 

To  get  at  what  water  is  made  of  we 
must  separate  it  through  chemistry 
into  its  parts  or  atoms.  When  we  do 
this  we  find  that  a  molecule  of  water 
is  made  of  three  atoms  or  parts.  Two 
of  these  are  exactly  alike  and  consist 
of  a  gas  called  hydrogen,  and  the  other 
part  is  another  gas  called  oxygen,  con- 
cerning which  gases  we  have  already 
learned  much  in  the  answers  to  other 
questions  in  this  book.  In  other  words, 
v'hen  we  separate  water,  which  is  a 
liquid,  into  its  parts,  we  change  the  re- 
lations of  the  molecules  in  the  water 
which  move  in  irregular  lines,  into  parts 
which  move  in  straight  lines  and, 
when  the  molecules  of  a  substance,  as 
v/e  have  already  seen,  move  in  straight 
lines,  the  substance  becomes  a  gas.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  you  freeze  water, 
it  becomes  a  solid  (ice),  and  in  doing 
that  you  fix  the  molecules  in  the  water 
so  that  they  stick  to  each  other. 

Men  thought  for  a  long  time  that 
water  was  an  element  like  oxygen  and 
hydrogen,  i.  e.,  that  its  molecules  could 


THE  DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  ELEMENTS  AND  COMPOUNDS    349 


not  be  separated  in  its  parts  and  was, 
therefore,  considered  one  of  the 
things  which  could  not  be  divided  up, 
but  this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  it  re- 
quires a  great  amount  of  power  to 
break  up  the  molecules  of  water. 

What  Is  an  Element  ? 

An  element  is  any  substance  whose 
molecules  cannot  be  broken  up  and 
made  to  form  other  substances.  You 
can  take  one  or  more  elements  and 
make  a  compound,  which  is  what  water 
is.  A  compound  is  a  substance  in 
which  the  molecules  are  made  up  of 
at  least  two  kinds  of  elements  or  ele- 
mentary substances. 

The  things  we  find  in  the  world  are 
known  as  either  compounds  or  ele- 
ments. An  element,  as  we  have  al- 
ready learned,  is  something  in  which 
the  molecules  cannot  be  broken  up. 
A.  compound  is,  therefore,  a  sub- 
stance in  which  the  molecules  are 
made  of  molecules  of  one  or  more  ele- 
ments and  is  either  gas,  liquid  or  solid, 
according  to  the  relations  which  these 
molecules  have  to  each  other.  We 
have  so  far  discovered  less  than  eighty 
real  elements  in  the  world,  although 
since  we  find  a  new  one  every  little 
while,  there  are  probably  many  more 
LIS  yet  undiscovered. 

Not  all  elements  are  gases,  of  course. 
Solids  like  copper,  gold,  iron,  lead  and 
a  number  of  others  are  elements. 
Among  liquids  we  have  mercury,  and 
of  the  gases  we  find  hydrogen,  nitro- 
gen and  oxygen,  which  are  the  three 
wonderful  gases  about  which  we  are 
about  to  learn  something,  and  these 
three  are  also  the  world's  most  impor- 
tant gases.  Ammonia  is  an  element, 
but,  while  we  think  of  it  as  a  liquid,  the 
real  ammonia  is  really  a  gas.  Our 
household  ammonia  is  really  a  com- 
pound of  ammonia  with  something 
else. 

What  Is  Hydrogen  Gas? 

Hydrogen  is  one  of  the  elementary 
substances  in  the  form  of  a  gas.  It 
has  no  color  or  taste  or  odor,  so  we 
cr.n  neither  see,  smell  nor  taste  it.    It  is 


the  lightest  substance  known  to  the 
world.  We  have  by  the  aid  of  chem- 
istry been  able  to  catch  and  retain  it 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  weigh  it  and 
have  found  it  to  be  lighter  than  any- 
thing else  in  the  world.  It  is  soluble 
in  water  and  some  other  liquids,  but 
only  slightly  so.  It  refracts  light  very 
strongly  and  will  absorb  in  a  very  re- 
markable manner  with  some  metals 
when  they  are  heated.  It  burns  with 
a  beautiful  blue  flame  and  very  great 
heat.  When  burned  it  combines  with 
oxygen  in  the  air  and  forms  water. 
Hydrogen  is  not  poisonous  but,  if  in- 
haled, it  prevents  the  blood  from  se- 
curing oxygen,  and  so  the  inhaling  of 
hydrogen  will  cause  death.  Hydrogen 
is  not  found  free  in  the  air  except  in 
small  quantities  like  oxygen  and  nitro- 
gen and  is,  therefore,  secured  by  sep- 
arating compounds  by  known  methods. 
It  can  be  secured  by  the  action  which 
diluted  sulphuric  acid  has  on  zinc  or 
iron,  by  passing  steam  through  a  red- 
hot  tube  filled  with  iron  trimmings,  by 
passing  an  electric  current  through 
water  and  in  other  ways.  Hydrogen  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  every  form  of 
animal  or  vegetable  structure.  It  is 
found  in  all  acids. 

What  Is  Oxygen? 

Oxygen  was  discovered  in  1774.  It 
is  an  elementary  substance  in  the  form 
oi  a  gas  which  is  found  free  in  the 
air.  It  is  colorless,  tasteless  and  odor- 
less and,  like  hydrogen,  cannot  there- 
fore be  seen,  tasted  or  smelled.  It  is 
soluble  in  water  and  combines  very 
readily  with  most  of  the  elements.  In 
most  cases  when  oxygen  combines  with 
other  things  the  process  of  combining 
is  so  rapid  that  light  and  heat  arc 
[produced — this  combination  is  called 
combustion.  Where  the  process  of 
combining  with  other  substances  acts 
slowly  the  heat  and  light  i)ro(luce(l  at 
one  time  are  not  enough  to  be  noticed. 
Where  metals  tarnish  or  rust  or  animal 
or  vegetable  substances  decay,  the 
same  thing  chemically  is  taking  place 
as  when  you  light  a  fire  and  produce 
light  or  heat — you  are  making  the  oxy- 


•ArM    WHY  SOME  THINGS  ARE  TRANSPARENT  AND  OTHERS  NOT 


gen  combine  with  the  substance  in  the 
material  which  is  burning.  When  iron 
is  rusting  or  vegetables  decaying,  the 
action  is  so  slow  that  no  heat  or  light 
is  produced.  Init  the  result  is  the  same 
it  some  outside  force  does  not  stop 
the  action.  The  lire  will  burn  until 
everything  burnable  which  it  can  reach 
is  burned  out,  and  in  the  case  of  the 
piece  of  iron  rusting,  the  action  will 
go  on  slowly  until  the  whole  piece  of 
iron  is  destroyed — or  burned  out.  Like 
hydrogen,  no  vegetable  or  animal  life 
can  live  without  oxygen  continually 
given  it.  Oxygen  will  destroy  life  and 
will  sustain  it. 

All  of  our  body  heat  and  muscular 
energy  are  produced  by  slow  combus- 
tion going  on  in  all  parts  of  the  body, 
of  oxygen  carried  in  the  blood  after  it 
enters  the  lungs.  In  sunlight  oxygen 
is  exhaled  by  growing  plants. 

Oxvgen  is  the  most  widely  distrib- 
uted and  abundant  element  in  nature. 
It  amounts  to  about  one-fifth  of  the 
volume  of  the  air  belt  of  the  earth; 
about  ninety  per  cent  of  all  the  weight 
of  water  is  oxygen.  The  rocks  of  the 
earth  contain  about  fifty  per  cent  of 
oxygen  and  it  is  found  in  most  animal 
and  vegetable  products  and  in  acids. 

What  Is  Nitrogen? 

Nitrogen  is  the  third  of  the  world's 
wonderful  and  important  gases.  It  is 
also  without  color,  taste  or  smell.  It 
will  not  burn  or  help  other  substances 
te  burn  and  it  will  not  combine  easily 
with  any  other  element.  It  will  unite 
at  a  very  high  degree  of  heat  w^ith 
magnesium,  silica,  and  other  metals. 
About  /.y  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  the 
air  is  nitrogen,  so  that  it  is  a  very  im- 
portant part  of  the  air  we  breathe  and 
it.  is  absolutely  necessary  in  making 
c  11  animal  and  vegetable  tissues.  W^hen 
united  with  hydrogen,  it  produces  am- 
monia, and  with  oxygen  one  of  the 
n-.ost  important  acids — nitric  acid.  It  is 
found  free  in  the  air  and  is  thus 
easily  secured.  Nitrogen,  while  very 
im.portant  to  all  kinds  of  life,  is  known 
as  the  quiet  gas.  It  stays  quietly  by 
itself  imless  forced  to  combine  under 
great   power   with    other   things,   and. 


even  under  those  conditions,  will  com- 
bine rarely.  We  find  a  good  deal  of 
nitrogen  in  the  blood  but,  while  we 
need  the  nitrogen  which  is  found  in  the 
blood,  it  does  nothing  particularly  to 
the  blood  or  the  rest  of  the  l)ody.  The 
nitrogen  which  the  body  uses  is  valu- 
able to  the  body  only  when  found  in 
a  comj^ound.  This  nitrogen  which  the 
body  needs  is  secured  through  vege- 
table products  such  as  the  wheat 
from  which  our  bread  is  made,  and 
which  are  said  to  secure  their  nitrogen 
through  the  aid  of  microbes  which 
are  able  to  force  the  nitrogen  of  the 
air  into  a  compound.  Some  day  per- 
haps we  shall  know  all  there  is  to  know 
about  nitrogen,  which  is  the  least 
known  of  these  three  wonderful  and 
necessary  gases. 

Why  Are  Some  Things  Transparent  and 

Others  Not  ? 

Transparency  is  produced  by  the  way 
rays  of  light  go  through  substances 
or  not.  When  light  strikes  a  sub- 
stance that  is  almost  perfectly  trans- 
parent, it  means  that  the  rays  of  light 
go  through  it  almost  exactly  as  they 
come  in.  W^c  think  quickly  of  glass 
when  we  think  of  something  readily 
transparent.  W^ater  is  almost  equally 
as  transparent.  WHien  the  sunlight  is 
shining  on  one  side  of  a  pane  of  ordi- 
nary window  glass,  it  causes  every 
thing  on  that  side  of  the  window  to 
reflect  the  light  which  strikes  it  in  all 
directions.  W'hen  these  rays  of  light 
strike  the  window  pane,  they  go  right 
through  and  that  is  how  w'e  are  able 
to  see  the  trees  and  grass  and  every- 
thing else  through  a  clear  window 
pane.  The  same  reason  applies  also  to 
the  w^ater. 

Some  kinds  of  wnndow  glass  (the 
frosted  kind)  we  cannot  see  through 
— they  are  not  transparent.  The  sur- 
face of  a  frosted  window  pane  is  so 
made  that  when  the  light  rays  strike 
it  the  rays  are  twisted  and  broken, 
and  do  not  come  through  as  they  en- 
tered the  glass. 

Sometimes  the  water  is  almost  per- 
fectly transparent.  When  water  is 
perfectly  clear,  it  is  quite  transparent. 


When  you  look  at  or  into  water  that 
is  not  transparent,  you  will  know  that 
there  are  particles  of  solid  matter 
floating  about  in  it  which  twist  and 
mix  the  light  rays.  If  the  water  is  not 
too  deep  you  can  see  the  bottom  some- 
times even  when  there  are  some  par- 
ticles of  solid  substances  floating  about 
in  it,  but  the  deeper  the  water  the 
more  of  these  solid  particles  there  are 
generally  in  it,  so  that  it  is  impossible 
in  most  waters  to  see  the  bottom  if 
the  water  is  deep.  In  some  places, 
however,  the  water  is  so  free  from 
floating  particles  that  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean  can  be  seen  at  quite  consid- 
erable depths. 

Why  Is  the  Sea  Water  Salt? 

All  water  that  comes  into  the  oceans 
by  way  of  the  rivers  and  other  streams 
contains  salt.  The  amount  is  so  very 
small  for  a  given  quantity  of  w'ater 
that  it  cannot  be  tasted.  But  all  this 
river  water  is  poured  into  the  oceans 
eventually  at  some  point.  After  it 
reaches  the  oceans,  the  water  is  evap- 
orated by  the  action  of  the  sun. 
When  the  sun  picks  up  the  water  in 
the  form  of  moisture,  it  does  not  take 
up  any  of  the  solid  substances  which 
the  water  contained  as  it  came  in  from 
the  rivers,  and  while  there  is  about  as 
much  water  in  the  ocean  all  the  time 
and  about  as  much  also  in  the  air  in 
the  form  of  moisture  also,  the  ocean 
never  gets  fuller ;  the  solid  substances 
from  the  river  waters  keep  piling  up 
in  the  ocean  and  float  about  in  the 
water  there.  The  salt  which  is  in  the 
river  water  has  been  left  behind  by 
the  sun  when  it  evaporated  the  water 
in  the  ocean  for  so  long  that  the 
amount  of  salt  has  become  very  no- 
ticeable. The  moisture  which  the  sun 
takes  into  the  air  from  the  ocean  is 
eventually  turnerl  back  to  the  earth 
again  in  the  form  of  rain.  This  jiro- 
cess  of  e\r.poration  and  precipitation 
in  the  form  of  rain  is  going  on  all  the 
time.  When  the  water  which  is  in  the 
form  of  rain  strikes  the  earth,  it  is 
pure  water.  It  sinks  into  the  ground 
and  on  the  way  picks  up  some  salt, 
finds    its   way   into   a   river   sooner   or 


later,  and  then  evidently  gets  back 
into  the  ocean.  All  this  time  it  has 
been  carrying  the  tiny  bit  of  salt  which 
It  picked  up  in  going  through  the 
ground.  But  when  it  reaches  the 
ocean  again  and  is  taken  up  by  the 
sun,  it  leaves  its  salt  behind  and  so 
the  salt  from  countless  drops  of  water 
is  constantly  being  left  in  the  ocean 
as  it  goes  up  into  the  air.  This  has 
been  going  on  for  countless  ages  and 
the  amount  of  salt  has  been  increas- 
ing in  the  ocean  all  the  time,  so  that 
the  sea  is  becoming  saltier  and  saltier. 

Why  Does  Salt  Make  Me  Thirsty? 

The  blood  in  our  body  contains 
about  the  same  proportion  of  salt  as 
the  water  in  the  ocean  normally.  When 
the  supply  is  normal  we  do  not  feel 
that  we  have  too  much  salt  in  our 
systems,  but  when  you  take  salt  into 
your  mouth  the  percentage  of  salt  in 
the  body  is  increased,  and  the  being 
thirsty,  or  the  desire  to  drink  water 
afterwards  is  caused  by  the  demand 
of  the  human  system  that  the  salt  be 
diluted.  The  system  calls  for  w^ater  or 
something  to  drink  in  order  that  it  may 
counteract  the  too  great  percentage  of 
salt  in  the  system.  Other  things  also, 
when  taken  into  the  body  in  too  great  a 
proportion,  cause  us  to  become  thirsty. 
Thirst  is  merely  nature's  demand  for 
more  water  on  account  of  the  neces- 
sity of  reducing  the  percentage  of  some 
substance  like  salt,  or  merely  a  neces- 
sity for  having  more  water  in  the 
body. 

What  Are  Diamonds  Made  Of? 

We  learned  the  definition  of  an  ele- 
ment in  our  study  of  water  and  other 
substances.  Many  things  which  were 
at  one  time  thought  by  our  wisest  men 
to  be  elements  were  later  found  to  be 
compounds  of  other  substances.  Water 
is  one  of  these  which  we  have  learned 
is  really  not  an  element  at  all,  but  com- 
pounded from  two  gaseous  elements, 
hydrogen  and  oxygen. 

One  of  the  most  important  elements 
in  the  world  is  the  one  out  of  which 
diamonds  are  formed.  Not  because 
diamonds  arc  so  valuable,  but  because 


the  element  referred  to,  carbon,  is 
found  in  every  tissue  of  every  living 
thing,  both  animal  and  mineral.  This 
carbon  is  one  of  tiie  most  useful  of  all 
elements,  but  is  found  in  and  used  by 
living  things  always  in  combination 
with  some  other  substance.  Carbon  is 
combustible,  forming  carbonic  acid  gas, 
from  which  the  earth's  vegetation  se- 
cures its  necessary  carbon,  which  is 
very  great  in  amount. 

When  heat  is  made  to  act  in  certain 
ways  on  the  tissues  of  animal  and  vege- 
table life  we  get  charcoal,  lampblack 
and  coke.  Carbon  will  combine  w'ith 
more  other  substances  than  any  of  the 
other  known  elements.  Its  wonders  lie 
in  the  fact  that  under  various  treat- 
ments it  produces  altogether  different 
looking  things,  although  remaining  as 
I  ure  carbon.  Our  diamonds,  for  in- 
stance, are  pure  carbon,  but  our  lead 
pencils,  that  is,  the  part  we  w^ite  with, 
are  also  pure  carbon,  and  the  coal  we 
burn  is  carbon  also.  It  would  be  hard 
to  say  which  of  these  three  forms 
of  pure  carbon  is  most  valuable  to 
the  world.  A  great  many  rich  people 
might  say  diamonds,  while  the  poor 
people  would  surely  say  coal,  especially 
if  you  asked  them  in  winter,  while  the 
people  who  write  books,  and  newspaper 
reporters,  would  probably  say  lead-pen- 
cils. However,  it  would  be  better  to 
choose  diamonds,  for  if  you  have  them 
you  can  always  trade  them  for  coal  or 
lead-pencils.  A  very  small  diamond 
will  buy  quite  a  lot  of  either  coal  or 
lead-pencils.  Carbon  is  one  of  the 
solid  elements  which  are  not  metals.  A 
great  many  of  the  important  elements 
in  the  group  of  solids  are  metals. 
"What  Causes  Dimples? 

A  dimple  is  a  dent  or  depression  in 
the  skin  on  a  part  of  the  body  where 
the  fiesh  is  soft.  The  fibers  which 
lay  in  the  tissue  under  the  out- 
side skin  help  to  hold  the  skin  firm. 
These  fibers  w'hich  are,  of  course, 
small  run  in  all  directions  and  are  of 
difTerent  lengths.  Now  and  then  these 
fibers  will  just  happen  to  grow  short 
in  one  spot  or  the  other  and  pull  the 
skin  in.  forming  a  little  depression,  but 
producing  a  very  pleasing  effect. 


Why  Does  the  Dark  Cause  Fear? 

Fear  is  an  instinct.  We  are  by  na- 
ture afraid  of  the  things  we  do  not 
know  all  about.  That  is  why  knowl- 
edge is  so  valuable ;  when  we  know 
about  a  thing  we  are  sure  of  our 
ground.  When  we  are  where  it  is  light 
we  can  see  what  is  there ;  when  it  is 
dark  our  imagination  becomes  active 
and  because  we  do  not  know  for  cer- 
tain what  is  there  in  the  dark  before 
us,  we  imagine  things. 

Fear  of  the  dark,  however,  cannot 
be  said  to  be  entirely  natural.  It  comes 
naturaly  only  when  we  have  come  to 
the  age  when  we  begin  to  imagine 
things.  Animals  have  no  imaginative 
powers  and  they  do  not  fear  the  dark. 
Some  people  say  that  the  fear  of  the 
dark  is  bred  in  us,  but  little  babies  do 
not  fear  the  dark.  If  they  are  prop- 
erly trained  they  will  go  to  sleep  in 
the  dark  and  will  prefer  the  dark.  As 
they  grow  older  children  begin  to  fear 
the  dark,  but  that  is  because  their 
imagination  is  coming  to  life  and  be- 
cause parents  so  often  make  the  mis- 
take at  this  stage  of  training  their 
children  of  either  encouraging  the  feel- 
ing of  fear  that  darkness  brings  for 
the  convenient  means  of  punishment  it 
piovides  through  threatening  to  put 
the  light  out,  or  because  they  do  not 
take  the  pains  to  show  that  there  is  no 
reason  for  fear. 

Most  children  who  fear  the  darkness 
are  really  taught  to  do  so  permanently 
by  parents  or  servants.  When  a  boy 
or  girl  first  begins  to  imagine  things 
in  the  dark,  many  parents  run  quickly 
to  the  child  and  say,  "Don't  be  afraid" 
or  "There  is  nothing  to  be  afraid  of," 
and  in  doing  this  they  perhaps  men- 
tion the  word  "fear"  for  the  first  time. 
Repetition  of  this  w^ill  always  cause 
the  child  to  associate  the  word  "fear" 
with  "darkness."  As  a  matter  of  fact 
when  the  boy  or  girl  first  show^s  fear 
of  the  darkness,  parents  should  go  to 
them  and  quiet  their  fears,  but  talk 
about  anything  else  but  fear  and  direct 
the  child's  mind  away  from  any 
thought  of  fear. 


WHERE  ROPE  COMES  FROM 


353 


ANCIENT    EGYPTIAN'    ROPE. 


The  Story  iii  a  Goi!  of  Rope 


How  many  have  ever  given  a 
thought  to  the  question  of  where  rope 
comes  from  and  how  it  is  made,  or 
reaHze  what  a  variety  of  uses  it  is  put 
to,  and  how  dependent  we  are  upon 
it  in  many  of  the  everyday  affairs  of 
life?  But  let  us  suppose  for  a  moment 
that  the  world  were  suddenly  deprived 
of  its  supply  of  this  very  commonplace 
material,  and  of  its  smaller  relatives, 
cords  and  twine.  We  should  then  be- 
gin to  realize  the  importance  of  a  seem- 


tomb  in  Thebes  of  the  time  of  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus. 

While  this  scene  is  said  by  the  best 
authority  to  represent  the  preparation 
of  leather  cords  for  use  in  lacing  san- 
dals, it  has  been  supposed  by  some  to 
be  a  representation  of  rope  making.  In 
any  event  the  process  is  undoubtedly 
the  same  as  that  used  in  making  rope. 

The  scene  is  depicted  with  the  true 
Egyptian  faculty  for  showing  details, 
making  words   almost  unnecessary   to 


EGYPTIANS     MAKING     ROPE. 


ingly  unimportant  thing,  and  to  ap- 
jjreciate  the  difficulty  in  getting  along 
without  it. 

.'\ncient  civilizerl  peo])les  had  their 
ropes  and  cordage,  made  from  such 
materials  as  were  available  in  their  re- 
spective countries.  The  Egyptians  are 
said  to  have  made  rope  from  leather 
thongs,  and  our  illustration  will  be 
frnmd  interesting  in  this  connection. 
This  is  from  a  sculpture  taken  from  a 


an  understanding  of  their  pictorial  rec- 
ords. We  see  the  raw  material  in  the 
shape  of  the  hide,  and  also  two  well- 
made  coils  of  the  finished  product. 
One  of  the  workmen  is  culling  a  strand 
from  a  hide  hy  revolving  it  and  cutting 
as  it  turns.  Any  one  who  has  not  tried 
it  will  be  surprised  to  see  what  a  good, 
even  string  can  he  cut  froin  a  piece  of 
leather  in  this  way. 

Another  man   is  arranging  and   pay- 


354 


HOW   ROPE   WAS   LONG   MADE   BY   HAND 


ing-  out  the  thongs  to  a  third,  wlio  is 
evidently  walking  backward  in  time- 
honored  fashion,  twisting  as  he  goes. 

Coming  down  to  more  recent  times 
we  find  that  rope-making  had  been  go- 
ing on  for  centuries'  with  probably  very 
little  change,  up  to  the  time  of  thesin- 
troduction  of  machinery  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  factory  system. 


1 


HACKLl.Nt;. 

In  the  early  days  to  which  we  have 
referred,  all  the  yarn  for  rope-making 
was  spun  by  hand  in  the  time-honoretl 
way.  We  are  able  to  represent  to  our 
readers  by  the  photographs  shown,  this 
now  almost  lost  art.  The  material 
shown  in  the  pictures  is  American 
hemp,  which  because  the  earlier  ma- 
chines were  not  adapted  to  working 
this  softer  fiber,  continued  to  be  spun 
by  hand  long  after  manila  was  spun 
chiefly  on  machines. 

The  hemp  was  first  hackled,  as  is 
also  shown  by  our  photograph,  the 
hackle  or  "hechel"  being  simply  a  board 
having  long,  sharp  steel  teeth  set  into 
it.  This  combed  out  the  tow  or  short, 
matted  fiber,  leaving  the  clean,  straight 


hemp.    This  "  strike"  of  hemp  the  spin- 
ner wrapped  al)out  his  waist,  bringing 


N.\TIVE    PHILIPINU    SCkAFING    IHE    IIBER    FROM 
THE   LEAF    STOCK. 

the  ends  around  his  back  and  tucking 
them  into  his  belt,  thus  keeping  the 
material  in  place  without  knot  or  twist, 
and    allowing    the    fibers    to    pay    out 

freely. 


DKVING    THE    FIBER. 


The  workman  in  our  picture  is 
Johnny  Moores,  an  old-time  expert 
hand-spinner,  who  can  walk  ofif  back- 
ward from  the  wheel  with  his  wad  of 


SCENE  IN  AN  EGYPTIAN  KITCHEN  SHOWING 
USE  OF  A  LARGE  ROPE  TO  SUPPORT  A  SORT 
OF    HANGING    SHELF. 


hemp,  spinning  with  each  hand  a  thread 
as  fine  and  even  as  can  be  asked  for. 
In  the  photograph,  in  order  to  show 
the  process  more  clearly,  one  large 
yarn  is  being  spun. 

The  large  wheel,  usually  turned  by  a 
boy,  is  used  to  convey  power  to  the 
"whirls,"  or  small  spindles  carrying 
hooks  upon  w^hich  the  fiber  is  fastened. 
These  whirls,  revolving,  give  the  twist 
to  the  yarn  as  the  spinner  deftly  pays 
out  the  fiber,  regulating  it  with  skillful 
fingers  to  preserve  the  uniformity  and 
proper  size  of  the  yarn.  As  he  goes 
backward  down  the  long  w^alk  through 
the  "squares  of  sunlight  on  the  floor" 
he  throws  the  trailing  yarns  over  the 
"stakes"  placed  at  intervals  along  the 
walk  for  the  purpose. 

The  spinning  "grounds"  were 
usually  arranged  with  wheels  at  either 
end,  so  that  spinners  reaching  the 
farther  end,  could  go  back  to  their  start- 
ing point  spinning  another  set  of  yarns. 

Then  in  the  case  of  small  ropes,  the 
strands  could  be  made  by  attaching  two 
or  more  yarns  to  the  "whirl"  and  twist- 
ing them  together,  reversing  the  motion 
to  give  the  strands  a  twist  opposite  to 
that  given  the  yarns.  These  strands 
were  twisted  together,  again  reversing 
the  motion,  making  a  roj)C.  Thus  it 
will  be  seen  tliat.  reduced  to  its  lowest 
terms,  ro[)e-making  consists  simply  of 
a  series  of  twisting  /])rocesscs.  The 
twisting  of  the  yarns  into  the  strand 


is  known  as  "forming"  or  putting  in  the 
"foreturn."  The  final  process  is  "lay- 
ing," "closing"  or  putting  in  the 
"after  turn."  Horse-power  was  used 
in  old  times  for  forming  and  laying 
rope  which  was  too  large  to  be  made 
by  hand. 

How  all  this  w'ork  is  now  done  in  a 
modern  rope  factory  by  ingeniously  de- 
vised machinery  we  shall  now  see. 

The  opening  room  where  the  fiber  is 
made  ready  for  the  preparation  ma- 
chinery is  a  reminder  of  the  days  when 
all  rope-making  processes  were  hand 
work.  The  bales  are  first  opened  up — 
in  the  case  of  Manila  this  means  cutting 
the  straw  matting  put  on  to  protect  the 
fiber  in  shipment.  Then  the  hanks 
which  are  packed  in  various  ways — 
sometimes  doubled,  sometimes  twisted 
— are  taken  out  and  straightened  and 
the  band  at  the  end  of  the  hank  re- 
moved. 

No  machinery  has  yet  been  perfected 
for  doing  the  work  just  described  but 
the  first  of  the  preparation  j)rocesses,  a 
short  step  beyond,  tells  (|uite  a  dif- 
ferent story.  Here  the  hanks  of  such 
fibers  as  require  a  special  cleaning 
treatment  are  ])laced  on  fast  working 
hackling  machines  which  comb  away 
most  of  the  snarls,  loose  tow  and  dirt. 

At  this  point  hard  fibers — Manila, 
Sisal  and  New  Zealand — arc  usually 
oiled  to  soften  them  and  to  make  them 
more  workable  for  the  operations  that 


356 


HUGE  BALES  OF  RAW  ROPE  MATERIAL 


follow.  The  oil,  furthermore,  acts  as 
a  preservative.  It  is  a  matter  of  im- 
portance to  the  buyer,  however,  that  the 
fiber  should  not  be  too  heavily  oiled, 
for  that  merely  increases  the  weip^ht 
and  cost  of  the  rope  without  improving 
its  quality. 

The  wonder  of  modernism  in  rope- 
making  is  nowhere  more  striking  than 
in  the  preparation  room.  To  pass 
from  one  end,  where  the  raw  hemp  is 
received  just  as  it  left  the  hands  of  the 
native  Filipino  laborer  with  his  crude 
methods,  down  through  the  long  rows 
of  machines  to  the  draw  frames  from 
which  the  sliver  is  delivered  in  a  fomi 
that  can  be  likened  to  a  stream  of 
molten  metal,  is  to  cover  decades  of  in- 
ventive genius  and  mechanical  develop- 
ment. 

The  mechanism  performs  its  work  so 
accurately  that  at  first  glance  the  mar. 


feeding  the  fiber  into  the  machine  and 
all  the  other  men,  busy  about  their  va- 
rious duties,  would  appear  to  be  play- 
ing very  minor  parts  in  modern  rope 
making.  In  reality,  expert  workman- 
ship and  watchfulness  are  very  import- 
ant factors.  Good  rope  depends  no 
more  upon  scientific  machine  processes 
than  upon  ceaseless  attention  to  the 
little  details,  and  this  is  especially  true 
in  the  preparation  room. 

Before  taking  up  the  distinctly  mod- 
ern machines  so  largely  used  now  in  the 
final  processes  of  rope-making — the 
forming  of  strands,  laying  of  common 
ropes  and  closing  of  cable-laid  goods — 
we  will  describe  the  rope-walk  where 
much  of  this  work  is  still  best  carried 
on. 

For  making  tarred  goods  in  all  but 
the  smaller  sizes  the  walk  has  certain 
advantages    not    aflforded     by     newer 


MANIL.\    HEMP   IN    WAREHOUSE. 


A   MODERN   ROPE   WALK 


357 


358 


HOW   ROPE    IS    FORMED   AND   TWISTED 


NEAR  VIEW   Ol-    MACHINE   IN  ROPE    WALK. 


methods.  It  also  'provides  efficient 
equipment  for  turning  out  the  largest 
ropes,  which  would  otherwise  require 
special  machinery. 

The  long  alleys  or  grounds  where  the 
work  takes  place  are  usually  laid  out 
in  i>airs,  one  for  forming,  the  other  for 
laying  and  closing.  Each  ground  has 
a  track  to  accommodate  the  machines 
used  and  an  endless  band-rope  which 
conveys  the  power. 

At  the  head  of  the  forming  ground 
stand  frames  holding  the  bobbins  of 
yarn.  The  yarns  for  each  strand  first 
pass  through  a  plate  perforated  in  con- 
centric circles.  This  arrangement 
gives  each  yarn  the  correct  angle  of  de- 
livery into  a  tube  where  the  whole  mass 
gets  a  certain  amount  of  compression. 

As  the  top  truck  is  forced  ahead  by 
the  twisting  process,  the  ropemaker  by 
means  of  Gfreater  or  less  leverage  on  the 


"tails" — the  loose  ropes  shown  in  our 
picture — preserves  a  correct  ^lay  in  the 
rope.  The  stakes  on  which  the  strands 
rest  are  removed  one  by  one  to  allow 
the  top  truck  to  pass,  and  then  replaced 
to  support  the  rope  until  the  laying  is 
finished  and  the  reeling  in  of  the  rope 
begun. 

The  closing  process  on  cable-laid 
goods  is  like  the  laying  except  that  the 
twist  is  reversed.  The  work  now  being 
with  three  complete  ropeS' — frequently 
very  large — a  heavier  top  truck  is  nec- 
essary, and  this  must  often  be  bal- 
lasted, as  shown  in  our  illustration,  to 
keep  down  the  vibration  which  would 
otherwise  tend  to  lift  the  truck  off  the 
track. 

Modern  rope-making  ingenuity 
reaches  its  high-water  mark  in  the  com- 
pound laying-machine  where  the  two 
operations  of  forming  the  strands  and 


.NEAR    VIEW   OF  MACHINE   IN    ROPE    WALK. 


PREPARING   THE   FIBER   IN   ROPE   MAKING 


359 


OPENING   1;ALES   UF    MANILA   FIBER   FOR   rREPARATlON. 


rUKPAUATIOX     UOOM. 


Here  the  filicr  is  carefully  cleaned  and  cnmbcd  by  a  series  of  fine  loolli  inachiniry  llirmigli 

which  it  passes. 


360  COUNTLESS   SLIVERS   STREAM    FROM    THE  ROPE  MACHINE 


The  hanks  of 
fiber  are  fed  by 
hand  into  this 
machine  several 
at  a  time,  where 
it  is  grasped  by 
steel  pins  fitted 
to  a  slowly  re- 
volving endless 
chain.  A.  second 
set  of  pins 
moving  more 
rapidly  draws 
out  the  indi- 
vidual fibers 
and  combs  them 
into  a  continu- 
ous form. 


FOKMATIUN     UK     SiLl\Ek l-ikST     J'.KtAKKK. 


The  operations  which  follow  are  very  similar.  A  number  of  "ropings"  are  allowed  to 
feed  together  into  a  first  slowly  revolving  set  of  pins  and  are  drawn  out  again  by  a  high 
speed  set  into  a  smaller  sliver,  the  pins  becoming  finer  on  each  succeeding  machine  until 

the  draw  frame  is  reached. 
Here  the  fiber  is  pulled 
from  a  single  set  of  pins 
between  two  rapidly  mov- 
ing leather  belts  called 
aprons.  On  all  of  these 
machines  the  fiber  passes 
between  rollers  as  it  goes 
oSito  and  leaves  the  pins 
and  the  sliver  is  given  its 
cylindrical  form  by  being 
drawn  through  a  circular 
opening. 

A  finished  sliver  must 
conform  to  the  special  size 
desired   for  spinning. 


-  •■  jii^ 

\         ^' 

m 

S^    >^4 

m 

«1^ 

■L 

mim^^^m 

JH 

SECO.XD   BREAKER. 


DRAW    FRAME. 


A  ROPE  MACHINE  THAT  IS   ALMOST  HUMAN 


361 


FOUR-STRAND     COMPOUND     LAYING-M  At  H INE. 


laying  them  into  a  rope  are  combined. 
Up  to  a  certain  point  this  method  is 
more  economical  than  that  in  which  the 
forming  and  laying  are  unconnected. 
Fewer  machines  are  required  for  a 
given  output — hence,  less  floor  space 
and  fewer  workmen.  The  time-saving 
element  also  enters  in. 


The  compound  laying  machine  must, 
however,  be  stopped  each  time  that  the 
supply  of  yarn  on  any  bobbin  is  so  low 
as  to  call  for  a  fresh  one.  This  would 
occur  so  fref|uently  in  the  case  of  the 
larger  ropes  as  to  offset  the  advaiitages 
just  mentioned,  hence  the  machine  is 
used  on  a  limited  range  of  sizes  only. 


362 


AN    AVERAGE    COIL   OF   ROPE~1200   FEET 


As  can  be  seen  in  the  picture,  the 
machine  contains  a  vertical  shaft  with 
upper  and  lower  projecting  arms  which- 
support  the  bobbin-flyers — four  in 
number  in  this  particular  case.  The 
bobbins  within  each  flyer  turn  on  sei)a- 
rate  spindles,  allowing  the  yarns  to  pass 
up  through  small  guide  plates  and 
thence  into  a  tube. 

Each  flyer  is  geared  to  revolve  on  its 
own  axis,  thus  twisting  its  set  of  yams 
into  a  compact  strand.  At  the  same 
time  all  the  flyers  revolve  with  the  main 
shaft  in  an  opposite  direction  and  form 
a  rope  out  of  the  strands  as  the  latter 
come  together  in  a  central  tube  still 
higher  up. 

The  rope  is  drawn  through  this  tube 
by  a  series  of  pulleys  which  exert  a 
steady  pull  and  so  keep  the  proper  twist 
in  the  rope.  From  these  pulleys  the 
finished  product  is  delivered  onto  a 
separately-driven  coiling  reel,  an  auto- 
matic device  registering  meanwhile  on 
a  dial  the  number  of  fathoms  run. 

The  small  reel,  seen  near  the  head 
of  the  main  shaft,  holds  the  small  heart 
rope  which  is  fed  into  the  center  of 
certain  four-strand  ropes  fo  act  as  a 
bed  for  the  strands. 


Pure  Manila  rope  is  the  very  best 
and  the  most  satisfactory  for  all  around 
use.  The  character  of  good  Manila 
fiber  is  such  as  to  impart  to  a  properly 
made  rope  such  necessary  factors  as 
strength,  pliability,  and  wearing  qual- 
ities. 

Regular  3-strand  Manila  rope  is  uni- 
versally used  for  all  general  purposes. 

For  certain  special  uses,  however, 
and  particularly  where  the  rope  is  to  be 
used  for  any  kind  of  sheave  work,  a 
4-strand  type  of  construction  will  be 
found  the  most  suitable,  as  such  a  roj^e 
presents  a  much  firmer,  rounder,  and 
greater  wearing  surface  than  the  or- 
dinary 3-strand.  There  are  many  dif- 
ferent types  of  4-strand  rope. 

The  picture  shown  on  this  page  rep- 
resents a  coil  of  4-strand  Manila  called 
"I]est  Fall."  This  rope  is  made  of 
carefully  selected  fiber  ;  is  4-strand  with 
heart,  and  is  harder  twisted  than  or- 
dinary goods.  Best  Falll  is  adapted  for 
heavy  hoisting  work,  as  on  coal  and 
grain  elevators,  cargo  and  quarry  hoists 
and  for  pile-driver  hammer  lines. 

The  standard  length  coil  of  rope  is 
1,200  feet,  although  extra  long  lengths 
are  every  day  made  for  such  purposes 
as  oil-well  drilling,  the  transmission  of 
power,  etc.,  etc. 


SECTION,  CROSS  SECTION  AND  COIL,  FOUR  AND 
THREE-FOURTHS  INCHES  CIRCUMFERENCE.  SEC- 
TION AND  CROSS  SECTION  ONE-HALF  ACTUAL 
SIZE. 


DIFFERENT   KINDS   OF   KNOTS 


363 


From    Kniglit's    American    Mechanical 
Dictionary. 

1.  Simple   over  hand  knot. 

2.  Slip-knot,  seized. 

3.  Single  bow-knot. 

4.  Square  or  reef  knot. 

5.  Square  or  bow-knot. 

6.  Weaver's  knot. 

7.  German  or  figure-of-H  knot. 

H.  Two  half-hitches,  or  artificer's  knot. 

0.  Double    artificer's   knot. 
16.   .Simi)le   galley-knot. 
II.  Capstan    or    prolonge    knfjt. 


12.  Bowline-knot. 

13.  Rolling-hitch. 

14.  Clove-hitch. 

15.  Blackwall-hitch. 

16.  Timber-hitch. 

17.  Bowline   on    a   bight. 

18.  Running-bowline. 

19.  Catspaw. 

20.  Double  running-knot. 

21.  Double-knot. 

22.  Sixfold-knot. 

23.  Boat-knot. 

24.  Lark's   head. 

25.  Lark's    head. 

26.  Simple  boat-knot. 

27.  Loop-knot. 

28.  Double  Flemish  knot. 

29.  Running  knot,  checked. 

30.  Croned  running-knot. 

31.  Lashing-knot. 

32.  Rosette. 

33.  Chain-knot. 

34.  Double  chain-knot. 

35.  Double   running-knot    with    check-knot. 

36.  Double  twist-knot. 

37.  Builder's  knot. 

38.  Double   Flemish   knot. 

39.  English  knot. 

40.  Shortening  knot. 

41.  Shortening  knot. 

42.  Sheep-shank. 

43.  Dog-shank. 

44.  Mooring-knot. 

45.  Mooring-knot. 

46.  Mooring-knot. 

47.  Pig-tail,  worked  on  tlie  end  <>f  a  rope. 

48.  Shrond-knot. 
.10.   .S.iilor's  bind. 

50.  A    granny's   knot. 

51.  A  weaver's  knot. 


364 


HOW  TO   SPLICE  A   ROPE 


??^ 


ENGLISH    SPLICE. 

For  transmission  rope. 

The  successive  operations  for  splicing  a 
i)4-inch  rope  by  this  method  are  as  follows: 

1.  Tic  a  piece  of  twine  (9  and  10,  figure 
6)  around  the  rope  to  be  spliced,  about  si.x 
feet  from  each  end.  Then  unlay  the  strands 
of  each  end  back  to  the  twine. 

2.  Butt  the  ropes  together,  and  twist  each 
corresponding  pair  of  strands  loosely,  to 
keep  them  from  being  tangled,  as  shown 
(a)   figure  6. 

3.  The  twine  10  is  now  cut,  and  the  strand 


8  unlaid,  and  strand  7  carefully  laid  in  its 
place  for  a  distance  of  four  and  a  half  feet 
from   the  junction. 

4.  The  strand  6  is  next  unlaid  about  one 
and  a  half  feet,  and  strand  5  laid  in  its  place. 

5.  The  ends  of  the  cores  are  now  cut  off 
so  thoy  just  meet. 

6.  Unlay  strand  i  four  and  a  half  feet, 
laying  strand  2  in  its  place. 

7.  Unlay  strand  3  one  and  a  half  feet, 
laying  in   strand  4. 

8.  Cut  all  the  strands  off  to  a  length  of 
about  twenty  inches,  for  convenience  in 
manipulation.  The  rope  now  assumes  the 
form  shown  in  b,  with  the  meeting-points 
of  the  strands  three  feet  apart. 

Each  pair  of  strands  is  now  successively 
subjected    to    the    following   operations : 

9.  From  the  point  of  meeting  of  the 
strands  8  and  7,  unlay  each  one  three  turns ; 
split  both  the  strands  8  and  7  in  halves,  as 
far  back  as  they  are  now  unlaid,  and  "whip" 
the  end  of  each  half  strand  with  a  small 
piece  of  twine. 

10.  The  half  of  the  strand  7  is  now  laid 
in  three  turns,  and  the  half  of  8  also  laid 
in  three  turns. 

The  half  strands  now  meet  and  are  tied 
in  a  simple  knot,  11  (c)  making  the  rope 
at   this   point    its    original    size. 

11.  The  rope  is  now  opened  with  a  mar- 
lin-spikc,  and  the  half  strand  of  7  worked 
around  the  half  strand  of  8  by  passing  the 
end  of  the  half  strand  through  the  rope, 
as  shown,  drawn  taut,  and  again  worked 
around  this  half  strand  until  it  reaches  the 
half  strand  13  that  was  not  laid  in.  This  half 
strand  13  is  now  split,  and  the  half  strand 
7  drawn  through  the  opening  thus  made,  and 
then  tucked  under  the  two  adjacent  strands 
as  shown  in  d. 

12.  The  other  half  of  the  strand  8  is  now 
wound  around  the  other  half  strand  7  in 
the  same  way.  After  each  pair  of  strands 
has  been  treated  in  this  manner,  the  ends 
are  cut  off  at  12,  leaving  them  about  four 
inches  long.  After  a  few  days'  wear  they 
will  all  draw  into  the  body  of  the  rope  or 
wear  off,  so  that  the  locality  of  the  splice 
can  scarcely  be  detected. 


WHY  WE   GO  TO   SLEEP 


365 


Why  Do  We  Go  to  Sleep? 

First,  of  course,  we  sleep  to  rest 
our  body  and  brain.  During  our  wak- 
ing hours  many,  if  not  all,  parts  of 
our  bodies  are  active  all  the  time,  and 
with  every  movement  we  exhaust  or 
spend  some  of  our  strength.  Take  the 
case  of  your  arm,  for  instance.  You 
may  be  able  to  move  it  up  and  down 
fifty  or  a  hundred  or  more  times  with- 
out getting  tired,  according  to  how 
strong  you  are,  but  sooner  or  later 
you  will  not  be  able  to  move  it  any 
more — it  is  tired — the  life  has  all  gone 
out  of  it  and  it  needs  rest,  in  order 
that  it  may  become  strong  again. 
Every  time  you  move  your  arm  you 
destroy  certain  parts  of  its  tissues, 
which  can  only  be  replaced  during 
rest.  Every  activity  of  your  body  has 
the  same  experience,  and  the  constant 
work  of  the  brain  in  directing  the 
various  movements  and  activities  of 
the  body,  tires  it  out  too.  As  soon  as 
this  condition  occurs,  the  brain  tells 
the  other  parts  of  the  body  that  it  is 
time  to  rest,  and  even  if  we  try  to 
keep  awake  and  go  on  with  our  work 
or  play,  or  w^hatever  it  is  we  are  do- 
ing, we  find  sooner  or  later  that  it  is 
impossible.  If  we  persist  w'e  fall 
asleep  wherever  w^e  happen  to  be.  It 
is  not  necessary  for  all  parts  of  the 
body  to  be  tired  before  we  sleep.  One 
part  alone  may  be  so  affected  by  what 
it  has  been  doing  that  it  alone  causes 
i:s  to  fall  asleep.  Sometimes  the  eyes 
become  so  tired,  w^hile  we  are  looking 
at  the  pictures  in  a  book  or  reading, 
for  instance,  that  we  fall  off  to  sleep 
("luickly.  It  is  perhaps  easier  to  bring 
on  sleep  by  making  the  eyes  tired  than 
in  any  other  way.  That  is  why  so 
many  peojjle  read  themselves  to  sleep. 
It  is  such  a  gradual  passing  into  un- 
consciousness that  you  can  hardly  ever 
tell  where  you  left  off  reading.  It  is 
said  that  when  we  are  awake  our 
bodies  are  continually  planning  for  the 
time  when  we  shall  need  sleep  and 
are  continually  making  some  little 
germ  which  is  carrierl  to  the  brain  as 
soon  as  made,  and  when  there  are  a 
sufficient  number  of  these  little  germs 


]:)iled  up  in  the  brain,  we  go  to  sleep. 
The  process  of  sleeping  then  destroys 
these  germs,  and  when  they  are  de- 
stroyed we  again  wake  up. 

Why  Do  We  Wake  Up  in  the  Morning? 

To  answer  thjs  we  must  go  back  to 
the  answer  to  the  question,  "What 
makes  us  go  to  sleep  ?"  We  go  to  sleep 
in  order  to  secure  the  rest  which  our 
body  and  brain  need  to  build  up  the 
parts  which  have  been  destroyed  dur- 
ing our  active  Avork  or  play. 

We  wake  up  naturally  when  we  have 
had  sufficient  rest.  We  wake  up  nat- 
urally, however,  only  when  the  de- 
stroyed parts  of  the  body  have  been 
replaced.  Other  things  may  waken  us 
— a  noise  of  any  kind,  loud  or  slight,  a 
startling  dream  or  a  moving  thing  that 
disturbs  our  sleep — according  to  how 
fully  we  are  asleep.  It  is  said  that 
sometimes  only  parts  of  the  body  are 
asleep ;  that  we  are  not  always  all 
asleep  wdien  we  appear  to  sleep,  and 
that  we  dream  because  some  part  of  the 
body  is  awake  or  active.  This  is  prob- 
ably true.  Now  then,  v/hen  all  of  anv- 
one  of  us  is  sleepy,  we  go  into  what  is 
called  a  deep  sleep  and  at  such  times 
only  something  out  of  the  ordinary 
v/ould  awaken  us.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, various  parts  of  the  body  become 
rested  and  they  are  said  to  wake  up, 
and  finally  wdien  all  of  us  is  rested,  we 
naturally  wake  up  all  over.  If  you 
are  healthy  and  sleep  naturally,  in  a 
[)lace  where  you  cannot  be  disturbed  by 
noises  or  movements  of  others,  you 
should  be  "wide  awake"  when  your 
eyes  open  and  be  ready  to  get  up  at 
once.  If  you  feel  like  turning  over  for 
another  snooze,  when  it  is  time  to  get 
up,  you  did  not  go  to  bed  as  early  as 
you  should  have  done,  or  else  some  part 
of  you  did  not  get  the  re(|uire(l  amount 
of  sleep  it  should  have  had. 

Where  Are  We  When  Asleep? 

We  are  just  where  we  lie.  It  seems 
to  us,  of  course,  because  of  our  dreams 
when  we  are  asleep  tbat  we  are  away 
off  some  place  else.  Often  when  we 
w.'ikc  up  we  wonder   for  a  minute  or 


366 


WHAT   MAKES  US   DREAM 


two  where  we  are,  as  everything  seems 
so  strange  to  us,  and  it  takes  a  minute 
or  so  for  us  to  remember  that  we  are 
in  our  own  bed,  if  that  is  where  we 
went  to  sleep.  This  is  because  of  the 
dreams  we  have  while  asleep.  In  past 
times  the  uncivilized  savages  in  va- 
rious ])arts  of  the  earth  believed  that 
when  any  of  them  went  to  sleep  that 
the  real  person  so  asleep  actually  went 
away,  leaving  the  body  behind ;  in  other 
words,  that  the  soul  went  traveling. 
They  thought  this  because  it  was  the 
only  explanation  they  could  think  of 
for  the  dreams  they  had,  since  almost 
invariably  the  dream  was  about  some 
other  place. 

Why  Does  It  Seem  When  We  Have 
Slept  All  Night  That  We  Have  Been 
Asleep  Only  a  Minute? 

This  is  because  all  our  ideas  of  pas- 
sage of  time  are  based  on  our  con- 
scious periods.  When  we  are  asleep 
we  are  unconscious.  It  is  the  same  as  if 
time  did  not  pass,  and  when  we  wake 
up  the  tendency  is  to  start  in  where 
we  left  ofif.  We  have  learned  by  ex- 
perience that  when  we  go  to  sleep  at 
night  and  wake  up  in  the  morning  that 
much  time  has  passed  and  this  uncon- 
scious knowledge  keeps  us  from  think- 
ing always  that  we  have  been  asleep 
but  a  minute.  But  if  you  drop  asleep 
in  the  day  time,  no  matter  how  long 
you  sleep,  you  wake  up  thinking  that 
you  have  been  asleep  only  a  minute, 
and  sometimes  it  is  difficult  to  con- 
vince yourself  that  you  have  been 
asleep  at  all.  Sometimes  after  being 
asleep  for  hours,  your  first  waking 
thought  is  a  continuation  of  what  your 
mind  was  on  when  you  went  to  sleep. 
The  reason  for  this,  as  stated  above,  is 
that  we  cannot  keep  track  of  passing 
time  when  we  are  asleep,  because  we 
are  perfectly  unconscious. 

Why  Should  We  Not  Sleep  With  the 
Moon  Shining  On  TJs? 

There  is  no  harm  in  letting  the  moon 
shine  on  us  while  we  are  asleep.  This 
is  one  of  the  queer  superstitions  that 
has  developed  in  the  world.     A  great 


many  people  think  that  something  ter- 
rible will  happen  if  the  moon  is  al- 
lowed to  shine  into  the  room  where 
tliey  are  asleep.  Not  so  many  believe 
this  as  used  to  do  so,  thanks  to  the 
more  enlightened  condition  of  things 
in  the  world. 

To  prove  to  yourself  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  you  through  the  moon 
shining  into  your  bedroom  qr  upon 
you  as  you  are  asleep,  you  have  only 
to  remember  that  a  great  many  men 
and  very  many  more  animals  sleep  out 
under  the  sky  every  night  and  that  the 
moon  must  shine  on  them  while  they 
are  asleep.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  people 
who  sleep  out  under  the  open  sky  are 
generally  in  ]:»ossession  of  more  rugged 
health  than  people  who  sleep  in  beds 
in  closed  rooms.  So  it  is  rather  bet- 
ter to  let  the  moon  shine  on  you  while 
asleep  than  not. 

This  belief  probably  started  with 
some  one  who  had  trouble  in  going 
to  sleep  with  the  moon  shining  on  him, 
because  the  light  of  the  moon  might 
have  a  tendency  to  keep  him  awake. 
It  is  easier  to  go  to  sleep  in  a  dark 
room  than  in  one  that  is  lighted,  be- 
cause when  there  is  no  light  there  is 
less  about  you  to  keep  you  awake. 

What  Makes  Us  Dream? 

Dreams  originate  in  the  brain.  The 
brain  has  many  parts  and  some  parts 
of  it  may  be  asleep  while  others  are 
not.  If  all  parts  of  the  brain  are  ac- 
tually asleep,  it  is  said  there  can  be  no 
dreams.  We  have  dreams  about  things 
which  seem  very  natural  while  we  are 
having  them,  and  which  we  know 
would  be  impossible  if  we  were  wholly 
awake,  because  those  parts  of  the 
brain  which  control  the  other  parts  are 
probably  asleep  while  the  dream  is  tak- 
ing place,  and  it  is  then  that  we  have 
those  fantastic  and  highly  imaginative 
dreams,  for  the  brain  is  not  under  con- 
trol in  every  sense. 

We  used  to  believe  that  dreams  have 
no  purpose,  just  as  now  we  know  that 
they  have  no  meaning.  But  it  has  been 
discovered  that  dreams  have  a  purpose 
in  that  they  protect  our  sleep.  You 
see,   every  dream  is   started   by   some 


WHAT  GHOSTS  ARE 


367 


disturbance  or  excitement  of  the  body 
or  mind.  Something  may  be  pressing 
or  touching  us  while  we  sleep,  or  a 
strange  sound  may  start  a  dream,  or 
perhaps  it  is  some  uncomfortable  po- 
sition in  which  we  are  lying  or  trouble 
in  the  stomach  on  account  of  eating 
something  we  should  not.  Whatever 
it  may  be,  those  things  wake  up  some 
part  of  the  brain,  because  if  all  parts 
cf  the  brain  were  asleep,  we  could  not 
feel  or  hear  anything.  Any  such  dis- 
turbance or  excitement  would  natur- 
ally excite  the  whole  brain  and  wake 
us  up  completely  if  it  were  not  for 
dreams.  The  dream  takes  care  of  this 
and  enables  the  rest  of  the  body  and 
brain  to  sleep  while  one  or  more  parts 
of  the  brain  are  disturbed  and  even 
perhaps  awake.  We  may  perhaps  have 
become  uncovered  in  some  way.  This 
would  produce  a  cold  feeling  and 
might  wake  a  part  of  the  brain  and 
cause  a  dream  about  skating  or  some 
other  winter  amusement  or  experience, 
or  even  perhaps  one  about  falling 
through  the  ice,  and  still  we  might  not 
be  uncovered  so  much  that  it  would 
make  any  great  difference.  The  dream 
comes  and  we  go  on  with  our  sleep 
v/ithout  waking  up,  whereas  if  it  were 
not  for  the  dream  we  would  awaken. 
In  other  words,  dreams  are  just  an- 
other wise  provision  of  nature  which 
enables  us  to  go  right  on  and  get  the 
rest  we  need,  even  if  our  digestion  is 
out  of  order,  or  some  part  of  our  brain 
is  disturbed  through  something  we 
read  about,  or  were  told  of,  or  we 
thought  of  while  still  awake. 

Why  Do  We  Know  We  Have  Dreamed 
When  We  Wake  Up? 

Because  we  remember  some  of  our 
dreams.  Sometimes  we  do  not  re- 
m.ember  the  dreams  wc  dreamed.  This 
is  just  like  what  happens  when  wc  arc 
awake.  We  remember  some  things  and 
forget  others. 

Dreams  are  a  sort  of  safety  valve 
in  our  sleep.  We  dream  because  not 
all  of  our  brain  is  asleep  at  ihe  lime 
and  it  is  a  wise  ])rovision  of  nature 
that  permits  the  waking  ])art  of  the 
brain    to   go   on    working    without    dis- 


turbing the  sleep  of  the  other  parts  of 
the  brain.  If  a  large  part  of  the  brain 
is  awake  and  engaged  in  making  the 
dream,  we  are  very  apt  to  remember 
the  dream ;  but  when  we  dream  and 
cannot  remember  what  the  dream  was, 
it  is  because  only  a  very  small  portion 
of  the  brain  was  awake  and  making 
£  dream. 

What  Causes  Nightmare? 

A  nightmare  is  a  dream  of  what  we 
mi'ght  call  a  vigorous  kind.  A  night- 
mare is  caused  by  a  feeling  of  intense 
fear,  horror,  anxiety  or  the  inability 
to  escape  from  some  great  danger.  A 
nightmare  is  the  result  of  either  an 
irregular  flow  of  blood  to  the  brain  or 
by  a  stomach  that  is  not  in  -proper 
condition. 

The  name  for  this  kind  of  a  dream 
comes  from  the  words  night  and  mare. 
The  latter  word  in  one  of  its  several 
meanings  indicates  an  incubus  or  evil 
vision,  and  a  dream  of  an  evil  vision 
involving  fear  or  horror  came  to  be 
termed  a  mare.  Since  they  occurred 
generally  at  night,  since  most  people 
sleep  at  night,  they  became  known  as 
nightmares.  Nightmares  are  more 
common  to  children  than  grown-up 
people  because  children  are  more  apt 
to  have  an  uneven  flow  of  blood  to  the 
brain  and  also  are  more  apt  to  eat  the 
things  which  put  the  stomach  in  a  state 
of  unrest  which  causes  nightmares. 
Grown-up  people  are  more  likely  to 
have  learned  to  avoid  the  abuses  of 
the  stomach  which  are  apt  to  produce 
nightmares. 

What  Are  Ghosts? 

The  idea  of  ghosts  is  the  result  of 
a  mistake  of  the  brain  or  an  attempt 
to  account  for  something  of  which  wc 
see  the  results,  but  have  no  actual 
knowledge.  There  are  no  ghosts. 
There  are  many  forces  at  work  in  the 
world  of  which  we  know  nothing  as 
yet.  Many  of  the  wonderful  things 
that  occur  in  the  world  are  as  yet 
mysteries  to  the  mind  of  man.  livery 
little  while  man  discovers  one  of  these 
new  forces,  and  then  he  is  able  to  un- 
derstand many  things  plainly  which 
were    up    to    then    surrounded      with 


368 


WHAT   CAUSES   A   HOT   BOX 


mystery  and  in  tlie  minds  of  supersti- 
tious people  attributed  to  sjiirits  or 
ghosts.  Long  before  we  understood  as 
much  as  we  do  now  of  the  workings  of 
electricity  (and  they  say  we  know  only 
a  little  of  its  wonders  as  yet)  many  of 
the  natural  wonders  produced  by  elec- 
tricity were  attributed  to  ghosts. 

Most  of  the  marvelous  tales  of  the 
wonders  performed  by  and  visits  from 
ghosts  are  the  result  of  disturbances 
ot  the  brain  in  the  pcoj)le  who  think 
they  see  the  ghosts  and  the  results  of 
their  work. 

A  creature  without  imagination  does 
not  pretend  to  see  or  believe  in  ghosts. 
Man  is  the  only  animal  which  pos- 
sesses the  ability  to  imagine  things  and 
so  the  ghosts  w^e  hear  about  are  the 
creatures  of  the  disturbed  brains  of 
men.  Generally  in  the  ghost  stories  we 
hear  of,  the  ghost  is  described  as  wear- 
ing clothes — usually  white.  A  bed 
sheet  thrown  over  the  foot  of  the  bed 
may  appear  to  a  half-awake  person  as 
the  outline  of  the  figure  of  a  ghost  and 
to  one  of  a  highly  imaginative  tem- 
perament without  the  courage  of  in- 
vestigation, become  forever  a  real 
ghost.  Usually  what  is  supposed  to  be 
a  ghost  is  only  a  creation  of  the  mind 
— a  vision  such  as  we  can  develop  dur- 
ing a  dream — oftentimes,  however, 
v/hat  you  look  at  when  you  think  you 
see  a  ghost  is  an  actual  something  such 
as  the  sheet  referred  to,  but  which 
takes  the  form  of  the  ghost  in  the 
brain  of  the  person  who  is  looking  at 
it  through  eyes  that  really  see  it,  but 
out  of  a  brain  that  for  the  moment  at 
least  is  far  oft  its  balance. 

Why  Do  Girls  Like  Dolls? 

Girls  like  dolls  because  they  come 
into  the  world  for  the  purpose  of  be- 
coming mothers  and  the  love  which 
they  display  for  dolls  is  the  mother 
instinct  which  begins  to  show  itself 
early  in  life.  To  the  little  girl  the  doll 
is  a  make-believe  child.  It  satisfies 
her  as  long  as  there  are  no  real  babies 
to  take  its  place,  but  any  little  girl  will 
drop  her  dollie  if  she  is  given  an  op- 
portunity to  play  at  dolls  with  a  real 
live  baby  instead.  This  is  a  very  in- 
teresting fact  in  connection    with    the 


human  race.  Boys  sometimes  play 
with  dolls,  but  not  so  often,  and  any 
kind  of  a  boy  will  give  up  playing 
V.  itli  a  doll  as  soon  as  a  toy  engine  or 
some  other  boy's  toy  appears  for  him. 
A  boy  has  certain  mannish  instincts 
which  a  girl  has  not.  We  have  many 
other  instincts  besides  the  instinct  of 
parenthood  and  each  of  them  has  its 
origin  in  some  certain  kind  of  feeling 
which  is  born  within  us  and  is  capable 
of  development  along  interesting  lines. 

What  Makes  the  Works  of  a  Watch  Go  ? 
A  watch  like  any  other  machine 
which  we  have,  only  goes  when  power 
is  applied  in  some  form  or  another.  In 
the  case  of  a  watch  it  is  a  spring.  A 
spring  is  an  elastic  body,  such  as  a 
strip  of  steel,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
watch,  coiled  spirally  which,  when  bent 
or  forced  out  of  its  natural  state,  has 
the  power  of  recovering  its  shape 
again  by  virtue  of  its  elastic  power. 
The  natural  state  of  a  watch  spring  is 
to  be  open  flat  and  spread  out  to  its 
full  length.  When  you  wind  a  watch 
you  coil  this  spring,  i.e.,  you  bend  it 
out  of  its  natural  shape.  As  soon  as 
you  stop  winding  the  spring  begins  to 
uncoil  itself,  trying  to  get  back  to  its 
natural  shape,  and  in  doing  so  makes 
the  wheels  of  the  watch  which  operate 
the  hands  go  round.  The  spring  then, 
or  rather  its  elasticity,  which  always 
makes  an  efifort  to  get  back  to  its  nat- 
ural state,  is  the  power  which  makes 
the  watch  go.  Men  who  make  watches 
arrange  the  spring  and  the  other  ma- 
chinery in  the  watch  in  such  a  way 
that  it  will  uncoil  itself  only  at  a  cer- 
tain rate  of  speed.  Sooner  or  later  the 
spring  loses  its  elasticity  and  then  its 
power  to  make  the  watch  go. 

What  Makes  a  Hot  Box? 

When  you  put  oil  on  the  axle,  how- 
ever, the  oil  fills  up  the  hollows  be- 
tween the  little  irregular  bumps  on 
both  the  axle  and  the  hub,  and  makes 
them  both  smooth — almost  perfectly 
so.  This  reduces  the  friction  and  keeps 
the  axle  and  hub  from  becoming  hot 
and  expanding.  The  less  friction  that 
is  developed,  the  more  easily  the  wheel 
will  turn. 


HOW   MOVING   PICTURES   ARE   MADE 


369 


The   Story   In   a   Moving   Picture 


How  Are  Moving  Pictures  Made? 

To  begin  at  the  beginning,  we  must 
start  with  the  negative  stock,  or  film 
on  which  the  pictures  are  taken.  This 
material  is  very  much  like  the  films 
you  buy  for  the  ordinary  snap-shot 
camera,  slightly  heavier  and  of  more 
durable  quality,  to  stand  the  wear  and 
tear  of  passing  through  the  picture 
camera  and  the  projecting  machine 
used  in  exhibition.  This  film  is  i^ 
inches  wide  and  comes  in  rolls  of  200 
feet  in  length.  This  negative  stock  has 
to  be  carefully  perforated,  making  the 
holes  necessary 'to  conduct  the  film  by 
aid  of  sprockets  through  the  camera 
and  the  projectoscope.  To  still  fur- 
ther understand  this  explanation,  see 
illustrations  of  the  negative  stock. 
Having  prepared  the  film  in  the  dark 
room,  we  can  load  the  camera  in  the 
dark  room  and  proceed  to  take  the 
picture. 

In  taking  an  industrial  or  travelogue 
picture,  after  the  camera  is  in  readi- 
ness, is  not  so  much  of  an  undertaking 
as  taking  a  picture  of  a  drama  or  com- 
edy, wherein  a  jilot  and  players  are 
concerned.  The  travelogue  or  industrial 
pictures  are  simply  photography,  with 
the  additional  manipulation  of  pano- 
raming  or  turning  the  camera,  which 
rcfjuires  an  expert  knowledge,  ac- 
quired from  experience  and  years  of 
study.  There  is  a  distinction  and  a 
big  difference  between  the  ordinary 
photogra])hcr  and  the  moving  ])icture 
photographer,  who  is  generally  known 
as  a  "camera-man."    A  photogra[)her. 


therefore,  though  of  vast  experience, 
cannot  step  into  a  "camera-man's" 
place  and  expect  to  "make  good."  The 
latter  has  to  depend  entirely  upon  his 
special  experience  and  judgment  as  to 
light  and  distance,  focusing  and  gen- 
eral physical  conditions  of  the  moving- 
picture  camera,  which  is  affected  by 
static  and  other  electrical  peculiarities 
of  the  atmosphere,  to  be  avoided  by 
him.  These,  and  many  other  points, 
are  convincing  evidence  that  the  mov- 
ing-picture camera  is  entirely  different 
from  an  ordinary  photographic  cam- 
era. A  moving-picture  camera  and 
tripod  weigh  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
pounds.  There  are  two  styles  of  cam- 
eras, one  which  takes  a  single  film 
and  one  which  takes  two  films  at  once, 
and  each  lens  of  the  double  camera 
must  be  equally  well  focused  and 
every  feature  to  be  depicted  must  be 
brought  within  the  focus,  which  gen- 
erally occupies  a  radius  of  8  feet  in 
width  by  10  feet  in  height. 

When  it  comes  to  taking  a  photo- 
play, a  drama  or  comedy,  different 
conditions  of  a  varied  nature  have  to 
be  contended  with.  To  proceed  intel- 
ligently in  taking  a  photo-play,  a  sce- 
nario or  manuscript  is  essential.  It 
must  be  })refaced  with  a  well-written 
syno])sis  of  the  story  involved,  cast  of 
characters,  scenes  to  be  enacted  and  a 
list  of  properties  required  in  the 
scenes.  The  director,  or  producer,  of 
the  play,  being  furnished  with  such  a 
guide,  ])roceeds  to  select  the  actors 
and  actresses   (called  players)   suitable 


370 


THE  EXACT  SIZE  OF  A  MOVING  PICTURE  FILM 


SCENES    FROM      OFFICER    KATE. 


for  the  parts  and  the  filHng  of  the  cast. 
This  being  accomphshed,  he  insists 
that  each  one  of  the  players  read  the 
scenario  in  order  to  be  familiar  with 
his  or  her  part  and  understand  the 
whole  play  before  going  into  the  pic- 
ture. The  director  instructs  them  as 
to  the  costumes  fitting  the  parts  and 
then  confers  with  the  costumer  con- 
cerning the  furnishing  of  proper  dress 
for  each  one  of  the  players.  The  di- 
rector is  ready  to  go  on  with  the  per- 
formance of  the  play,  and  tells  his  cast 


to  appear  for  rehearsal  at  a  set  hour. 
At  that  time  he  i)uts  them  through  a 
thorough  course  of  training  or  re- 
hearsal, to  "get  over"  and  register  the 
meaning  of  each  thought  which  is  to 
be  expressed  by  their  actions.  Some- 
times a  scene  is  rehearsed  four  to  six 
hours  before  it  is  photographed.  A 
one-reel  play  is  generally  looo  feet  in 
length,  and  it  is  very  important  that 
the  director,  if  he  has  twenty  scenes, 
for  instance,  to  introduce  within  that 
looo   feet,   to   time  the   scenes   to   the 


RAW    NEGATIVE    STOCK.        PERFORATED    NEGATIVE    STOCK. 
Exact   size  of  a  Motion   Picture  Film 


STAGING  A   MOTION   PICTURE    IN   A  STUDIO 


371 


length  of  his  fihii;  that  is,  if  he  has 
twenty  scenes  within  one  thousand 
feet,  each  of  the  twenty  scenes  must 
not  average  more  than  one  minute 
each.  If  one  should  happen  to  be  more 
than  one  minute,  then  he  has  to  con- 
dense another  scene  less  than  one  min- 
ute, in  order  to  bring  all  within  the 
twenty  minutes  or  looo  feet.: 


eight  feet  of  space,  which  is  really  con- 
fined to  that  much  stage  width.  Here 
again  is  where  the  camera-man  has  to 
watch  very  carefully,  not  only  the 
workings  of  his  camera,  but  the  play- 
ers ;  always  alert  that  they  are  in  the 
picture,  and  assisting  the  director  by 
his  observations.  The  size  of  each  pic- 
ture as  taken  on  the  film  is   ^  by   i 


REIIEAKSING    SCENE    IN     STUDIO 


The  Size  of  Each  Picture  on  the  Film. 

So  you  can  see  from  this  that  it 
needs  very  careful  rehearsal  and  nice 
calculation  to  bring  a  well-acted  and 
convincing  play  wnthin  so  short  a 
time,  to  tell  the  whole  story  intelli- 
gently. Having  done  all  this,  the  di- 
rector is  ready  to  have  the  "camera- 
man" do  his  part  of  the  work.  He 
draws  his  lines  within  the  range  of  the 
camera,  which  do  not  exceed  eight  or 
ten  feet  in  the  foreground.  This  is 
another  point  to  be  considered  on  the 
part  of  the  director,  because  all  the 
action  has  to  be  carried  out  within  the 


inch.  It  is  magnified  ten  thousand 
times  its  actual  size  when  we  see  it  on 
the  screen  in  a  place  of  exhibition. 
A  full  reel  of  lOOO  feet  shows  16,000 
photograplis  on  the  screen  during  the 
twenty  minutes  it  consumes  in  its 
showing.  The  future  of  moving  pic- 
tures is  no  longer  a  matter  of  specula- 
tion. The  business  is  an  established 
one,  and  its  further  developments  are 
only  matters  of  time.  The  i)ossil)ilities 
and  uses  of  the  animated  art  are  un- 
limited. Already  it  is  felt  in  educa- 
tional, religious,  scientific,  and  indus- 
trial affairs.  Their  influence  in  matters 
of    sanitation    and   all    civic    improve- 


372      EACH    PICTURE    IS    FIRST   EXHIBITED   AT  THE  STUDIO 


inents,  construction  and  mechanics,  is 
invaluable.  As  a  medium  of  whole- 
some entertainment  and  solid  instruc- 
tion it  is  unsurpassed. 

These  are  merely  suggestions  of  a 
few  phases  of  its  utility  and  it  is  only 
a  natural  conclusion  that  it  will  be  so 
far-reaching  in  its  uplift  that  it  will 
surpass  the  expectations  of  the  most 
sanguine. 

To  (lc\clop,  tint  and  clear  the  films, 


The  films  are  finally  cleared,  to  wash 
them  clear  of  any  extraneous  chemi- 
cals or  matter  which  might  streak  or 
scratch  the  films,  and  avoid  any  ob- 
jectionable matter  that  might  mar 
their  appearance  when  shown  on  the 
screen  or  in  the  process  of  handling. 
As  soon  as  convenient  after  a  fihii 
is  finished  it  is  taken  to  the  exhi])iti(jn 
rooms,  at  the  studio,  where  it  is  thrown 
onto   the   screen.     It    is    reviewed    first 


THE  DF,Vi:i.OPIN'G  ROOM. 


large  tanks  of  wood  or  soapstone  are 
used.  The  films,  which  are  wound 
upon  the  wooden  frames,  or  racks,  are 
dipped  into  these  vats,  filled  with  the 
necessary  chemicals  and  liquids.  The 
films  being  w'ound  on  frames  enables 
the  developers  to  examine  them  with- 
out handling  them.  The  tinting  is 
done  by  similar  methods  to  give  the 
necessary  tint,  coloring  in  red,  sepia, 
blue,  green  or  yellow,  imparting  to 
them  the  efifect  of  night,  sunlight  or 
evening,   whichever   the  case  may   be. 


by  the  heads  of  the  departments  and 
the  directors,  and  later  by  i)layers  and 
all  those  interested  in  it.  The  projec- 
toscopes  or  moving-picture  machines 
are  run  by  motor,  presided  over  by 
licensed  operators,  who  are  kept  on 
the  job  continually. 

These  exhibition  rooms  are  called, 
in  the  parlance  of  the  studios,  "knock- 
lodeums,"  for  here  is  where  every- 
thing is  criticised.  Players'  acting  and 
fitness  are  judged  by  their  appearance 
and  conduct  on  the  screen  and   deci- 


THE   BOARD  OF  CENSORS  PASSES  ON  EVERY   PICTURE     373 


DRYING  ROOM. 


sion  given  as  to  their  qualifications. 
The  quahty  of  the  photography,  de- 
veloping and  the  picture  as  a  finished 
production  is  here  determined  by  the 
heads  of  the  concern. 

Every  picture  before  it  is  released 
for  exhibition  must  be  passed  upon  by 
the  Board  of  Censors.  It  is  run  upon 
the  screen  and  thoroughly  inspected, 
criticised,  and  every  point  involved 
thoroughly  weighed  as  to  its  effect 
upon  the  mind  of  the  general  public. 
If,  in  their  estimation,  it  is  found  ob- 
jectionable  in   any  particular,   the   ob- 


jectionable parts  are  eliminated,  and  if 
considered  entirely  harmful,  in  its  sen- 
timents or  influence,  the  picture  is  con- 
demned. The  majority  rules  in  the 
board's  judgment,  although  it  is  by  no 
means  infallible  in  its  decision.  This 
board  is  composed  of  about  sixty  per- 
sons, who  are  appointed  by  the  gov- 
ernment for  their  general  qualifica- 
tions, their  interest  in  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  public,  keenness  as  to 
morals  and  uplift  of  the  people  at 
large.  They  do  not  receive  salaries ; 
their  services  are  pro  bono  publico. 


TAKING    A     MILITARY    SCENE    OUTDOOKS. 


374 


THE   STORY    IN    "PIGS    IS   PIGS" 


•f^* 


"PIGS  IS  i'iGS." 

ViTAGRAPH   Famous   Authors'   Series  dy  Ellis   Parker 
Butler. 

You  Have  Seen  Pigs,  but  Never  Such  Pigs  as  These.     Two 

of   Them  Become  Eight  Hundred  Pigs  so   Rapidly,   They 

Set  Bunny  Daffy  and  Almost  Ruin  the  Express  Business. 

Director — George  D.  Baker.    Author — Ellis  Parker  Butler. 

CAST. 

f tannery,  an  E.vpress  Agent John    Bunny 

Mr.  Morehouse   Etienne  Girardot 

Clerk  in  Complaint  Dcpt Courtland  van  Deusen 

Head  of  Claims  Dcpt William  Shea 

Mr.  Morgan,  Head  of  Tariff  Dept Albert  Roccardi 

President  of  Company Anuers   Randole 

Prof.  Gordon  George  Stevens 

After  a  stremious  argument  with  Flannery,  the  local  Ex- 
press Agent,  Mr.  Morehouse  refuses  to  pay  the  30c  charges 
on  each  of  two  guinea  pigs  shipped  him,  claiming  they  are 
pets  and  subject  to  the  25c  rate.  Flannery  replies,  "Pigs 
is  pigs  and  I'm  blame  sure  them  animals  is  pigs,  not  pets, 
and  the  rule  says,  '30c  each.' "  Mr.  Morehouse  writes  many 
times  to  the  Express  Company,  claiming  guinea-pigs  arc 
not  common  pigs,  and  each  time  is  referred  to  a  different 
department.  Flannery  receives  a  note  from  the  Tariff 
Department  inquiring  as  to  condition  of  consignment,  to 
which  he  replies,  "There  are  eight  now !  All  good  eaters. 
Paid  out  two  dollars  for  cabbage  so  far."  The  matter 
finally  reaches  the  President,  who  writes  a  friend,  a  Zoo- 
logical Professor.  Unfortunately  that  gentleman  is  in  South 
Africa,  causing  a  delay  of  many  months,  during  which  time 
the  pigs  increase  to  160.  At  last  word  is  received  from  the 
learned  man  proving  that  guinea-pigs  are  not  common  pigs. 
Flannery  is  then  ordered  to  collect  25c  each  for  two  guinea- 
pigs  and  deliver  the  entire  lot  to  consignee.  There  are  now 
800  and  Flannery  is  horrified  to  find  Morehouse  has  moved 
to  parts  unknown.  He  is  about  to  give  up  in  despair  when 
the  company  orders  him  to  forward  the  entire  collection  to 
the  Main  Office,  to  be  disposed  of  as  unclaimed  property, 
in  accordance  with   the   ecneral   rule. 


BUNNY     FEEDING     THE     PIGS. 


Who  Made  the  First  Moving  Pictures  ? 

The  first  device  which  produced  the 
motion-picture  effect  was  nothing  but 
a  scientific  toy.  The  idea  is  almost  as 
old  as  pictures  themselves.  This  toy 
we  speak  of  was  called  a  zoctrope.  It 
consisted  of  a  whirling  cylinder  having 
many  slits  in  the  outside  through  which 
you  could  see  by  looking  into  the  cyl- 
inder a  picture  opposite  each  slit.  The 
pictures  were  drawn  by  hand  and  the 
artist  aimed  to  place  the  pictures 
within  the  cylinder  in  such  order  that 
each  succeeding  one  would  repre- 
sent the  next  successive  motion  of  any 
moving  object  in  making  a  movement 
as  near  as  he  could  draw  it ;  when  the 
cylinder  was  whirled  with  the  slits  on 
a  level  with  the  eye,  the  effect  produced 
was  of  a  continuous  moving  picture. 

A  great  many  devices  were  produced 
as  a  result  of  this  toy  for  presenting 
the  effect  of  pictures  so  arranged,  but 
until  photography  was  invented  no  way 
was  found  for  making  the  pictures  to 
be  viewed  except  such  as  were  drawn 
by  artists.  But  when  photography  was 
developed  it  was  possible  to  get  actual 
successive  photographs.  The  greatest 
difficulty  was  found  in  taking  photo- 
graphs in  such  quick  succession  that 
all  of  the  motions  in  the  moving  object 
were  taken  without  any  skipping.  This 
difficulty  was  for  the  first  time  success- 
fully overcome  by  Muybridge  in  1877. 
He  arranged  a  row  of  twenty-four 
cameras  with  string  trigger  shutters, 
the  string  of  each  shutter  being 
stretched  across  a  race  track.  A  mov- 
ing horse  approaching  down  the  track 
broke  the  strings  as  he  came  to  them, 
thus  operating  each  of  the  cameras  in 
turn  in  quick  succession  and  securing 
a  series  of  pictures  of  the  moving  horse 
within  a  very  short  time.  There  were 
tv/enty-four  pictures  to  this  film  when 
reproduced  in  the  devices  then  known 
for  projecting  pictures,  and  this 
method  ref|uired  one  camera  for  each 
section  of  the  picture  produced.  Of 
course,  the  length  of  the  series  was 
thus  limiterl  greatly. 

About  ten  years  later  Le  I'rince  ar- 
ranged what  he  called  a  multipU'  cam- 
era.    This  was  as  a  matter  of   fact  a 


battery  of  sixteen  automatically  re- 
loading cameras  in  which  strips  of  film 
were  used.  Each  of  the  sixteen  cam- 
eras took  a  picture  in  turn  and  then 
automatically  brought  another  strip  of 
the  film  into  position,  so  that  camera 
number  one  took  the  seventeenth  pic- 
ture, the  twenty-third,  the  forty-ninth, 
etc.,  and  each  of  the  other  cameras 
took  their  various  pictures  in  turn. 
With  this  camera  a  film  of  any  re- 
quired length  could  be  produced. 

The  Le  Prince  camera  was  therefore 
the  real  parent  from  which  the  modern 
motion-picture  camera  sprang.  The 
first  really  modern  motion-picture  cam- 
era was  built  in  a  single  case  with  a 
battery  of  sixteen  separate  lenses  and 
sixteen  shutters.  These  were  oper- 
ated by  turning  a  crank.  The  pictures 
were  taken  on  four  strips  of  film. 
When  the  crank  was  turned  the  ex- 
posure was  made  to  each  of  the 
sixteen  lenses  in  succession,  and  when 
the  series  was  completed  the  films 
Vv^ere  cut  apart  and  pasted  together 
in  a  single  strip  of  film,  the  pic- 
tures themselves  being  arranged  in 
the  proper  order.  The  principal  de- 
velopment of  this  camera,  as  found  in 
the  present  method  of  making  motion 
pictures,  is  the  invention  of  the  flexible 
film  negatives ;  the  transparent  support 
for  the  print  which  permits  the  pic- 
tures to  be  projected  in  enlarged  form 
upon  a  screen  ;  and  the  system  of  holes 
in  the  margin  of  the  film  by  which  the 
film  is  held  in  perfect  alignment  for 
projecting  the   pictures. 

But  a  few  years  ago,  then,  the  mo- 
tion picture  was  a  child's  toy.  To-day 
it  forms  the  basis  for  not  only  a  very 
large  and  profitable  business  for  many 
people,  but  a  source  of  amusement 
and  education  to  millions  of  peo])le  at 
reasonable  prices.  To-day  the  motion- 
picture  business  is  regarded  as  one  of 
the  world's  greatest  industries. 

No  corner  of  the  world  is  so  far 
remote  l)Ul  the  motion-picture  man 
finds  his  way  there,  either  as  rui  ex- 
hibitor or  as  a  producer.  Nothing  hap- 
])ens  in  the  world  to-day  but  the  mo- 
ti()n-i)iclure  man  with  his  camera  is  on 
the   job    if   it    is   a    happening   that    can 


376 


HOW   FREAK   PICTURES  ARE   MADE 


be  preserved  in  motion  pictures  and 
worthy  of  that.  The  dethronement  of 
kings  and  the  inaugurations  of  presi- 
dents are  all  alike  to  him.  If  there 
is  a  war,  he  is  found  in  all  parts  of 
the  field,  and  is  the  first  to  see  the 
parade  when  there  is  a  peace  jtibilee. 
Disasters,  horrors,  heroes  and  crimi- 
nals pass  before  his  lens  and  he  gives 
us  a  moving  panorama  of  everything 
that  is  interesting,  in  nature,  in  real 
life,  and  in  fiction. 

Taking  Motion  Pictures  a  Simple  Oper- 
ation. 

Motion-picture  photography  is  me- 
chanically simple  and  the  projection 
of  the  pictures  on  the  screen  was  made 
possible  by  the  improvement  in  dry 
plates  which  made  instantaneous  pho- 
tography successful,  together  with  the 
invention  of  the  process  of  using  cel- 
luloid films  for  negatives.  Tvlotion 
pictures  consist  of  a  series  of  photo- 
graphs made  rapidly  and  then  pro- 
jected rapidly  on  the  screen.  In  this 
way  one  picture  follows  another  so 
quickly  that  the  change  from  one  pic- 
ture to  another  is  not  noticed  and  the 
movements  and  actions  of  the  persons 
or  things  photographed  are  reproduced 
in  a  life-like  manner. 

Is  the  Hand  Quicker  Than  the  Eye  ? 

There  is  no  question  that  the  hand 
can  be  moved  so  quickly  that  the  eye 
cannot  detect  the  movement.  This  is 
proved  by  the  motion  picture  when 
projected  on  the  screen.  In  moving 
pictures  the  quickness  of  the  machine 
deceives  the  eye  and  the  transition 
from  one  picture  to  another  is  done 
so  rapidly  that  the  change  is  not  seen 
and  the  apparent  movement  is  contin- 
uous and  unbroken. 

The  film  made  by  the  motion  picture 
is  a  "negative"  in  which  the  colors 
are  reversed,  the  blacks  being  white 
and  the  whites  black,  exactly  as  in  still 
photography.  The  film  used  in  the  pro- 
jection machine  is  a  "positive,"  in 
which  the  lights  and  shadows  have 
their  proper  values.  The  principle  and 
process  is  exactly  the  same  as  in  mak- 


ing  lantern   slides  and    window   trans- 
parencies. 

Does  the  Film  Move  Continuously? 

In  making  the  negative  lor  the  mo- 
tion picture  the  film  does  not  move  for- 
ward regularly,  but  it  goes  by  jumps. 
It  is  absolutely  still  at  the  moment  of 
exposure.  The  same  is  true  in  pro- 
jecting the  picture  on  the  screen.  In 
most  projection  machines  the  film  is 
stationary  three  times  as  long  as  it  is 
in  motion,  though  in  some  machines 
the  proportion  is  one  in  six.  In  the 
taking  of  the  picture,  the  film  is  really 
stationary  one-half  of  the  time.  As 
pictures  are  usually  projected  at  the 
rate  of  fourteen  or  sixteen  to  the  min- 
ute, this  means  that  each  separate  pic- 
ture appears  on  the  screen  three- 
fourths  of  one-sixteenth  of  a  second, 
or  three-sixty-fourths  of  a  second,  and 

How  Are  Freak  Pictures  Made? 

Freak  pictures  are  usually  the  result 
of  clever  manipulation  of  the  camera 
or  the  film.  Articles  or  individuals 
can  be  made  to  instantly  disappear  by 
stopping  the  camera  while  the  article 
i^  removed  or  the  person  walks  ofif  the 
stage,  the  other  characters  holding 
their  pose  until  the  camera  is  again 
j)ut  in  motion.  In  some  films  in  which 
a  person  is  thrown  from  a  height  or 
is  apparently  crushed  under  a  steam 
roller  the  effect  is  gained  by  the  live 
person  walking  away  after  the  camera 
is  stopped  and  a  dummy  substituted 
to  undergo  the  death  penalty. 

By  projecting  the  picture  at  a  faster 
rate  than  it  was  taken,  excruciatingly 
comic  scenes  are  sometimes  devised. 
An  automobile  going  ten  miles  an  hour, 
by  speeding  up  the  projection  machine, 
may  be  made  to  apparently  move  at  a 
hundred  miles  an  hour,  and  by  increas- 
ing in  the  same  way  the  apparent  speed 
of  persons  dodging  the  demoniac  auto 
exceedingly  ludricrous  effects  are  had. 

By  mechanical  means  in  combining 
two  or  more  negatives  into  one  positive 
a  man  can  be  shown  fencing  with  him- 
self or  even  cutting  his  own  head  off. 


Pictures   i)y  courtesy  of  the   Vitagrapli  Company. 


HOW  RUBBER  TIRES  ARE  MADE 


377 


WASH    KUUM. 


The  Story  in  a  Ball  of  Rubber 


How  Crude  Rubber  Is  Treated. 

Washing. — When  the  crude  rubber 
arrives  at  the  factory  of  the  rubber 
manufacturer,  it  is  generally  stored  in 
bins  in  dark  and  fairly  cool  store- 
rooms, where  it  is  kept  until  ready  to 
be  used.  The  rubber  passes  directly 
from  the  storage  bins  to  the  wash- 
room, where  it  is  cut  up  into  small 
pieces,  put  into  large  vats  of  warmed 
water  and  allowed  to  soak,  in  order 
to  soften  it  sufficiently  to  be  broken 
down  in  the  machines.     It  is  then  fed 


into  a  cracker,  a  machine  consisting  of 
two  rolls  with  projections  on  their  sur- 
faces shaped  like  little  pyramids,  the 
two  rolls  revolving  with  a  differential, 
one  going  considerably  faster  than  the 
other,  and  being  adjustable,  so  that 
they  can  work  close  together  or  with 
some  distance  between  them.  The  rub- 
ber is  fed  between  these  rolls  and 
broken  down  into  a  coarse,  spongy 
mass.  Water  flows  on  to  the  rubber 
during  the  process,  bringing  down 
sand,   dirt,  bark,   and   the   many   other 


CALKNUKK    l<()(JM. 

*  These  and  Ihc  following  Pictures  by  courtesy  of  the  Onodyear  Tire  and  Rtil)l)er  Co. 


378 


PREPARING   CRUDE  RUBBER   FOR   MAKING   TIRES 


foreign  materials  which  come  mixed 
with  the  rubber.  The  rubber  is  put 
through  this  machine  a  number  of 
times,  until  it  is  worked  into  a  uniform 
condition.  Some  of  the  rubbers,  like 
the  Ceylons  and  Paras,  will  sheet  out 
into  a  coarse  sheet  by  being  put 
through  this  machine;  others,  like  the 
majority  of  the  African  rubbers,  will 
fall  apart  and  come  dow^n  in  chunks 
and  have  to  l)e  fed  into  the  machine 
with  a  shovel. 

After  the  rubber  is  broken  down 
sufficiently  in  the  cracker,  it  is  next  put 
through  a  washing  machine,  which  is 
built  very  similar  to  the  cracking  ma- 
chine, except  that  the  rolls  are  grooved 
or  rifled,  so  that  their  action  is  not 
so  severe  on  the  rubber.  A  large  quan- 
tity of  water  is  kept  constantly  run- 
ning over  this  machine  while  the  rub- 
ber is  being  put  through,  and  the  rolls 
work  very  close  together,  so  that  the 
rubber  is  finely  ground  and  run  out 
into  a  thin  and  comparatively  smooth 
sheet,  allowing  the  water  flowing  be- 
tween the  rolls  to  take  out  practically 
all  of  the  foreign  matter  that  remains. 
The  rubber  is  run  through  this  machine 
a  number  of  times  until  the  experi- 
enced inspectors  in  charge  are  satisfied 
that  it  is  thoroughly  washed.  Some 
types  of  rubber,  such  as  Manicoba, 
which  have  large  quantities  of  sand 
in  them,  are  washed  in  a  special  form 
of  washing  machine  known  as  the 
beater  w'asher.  This  is  an  endless, 
oval-shaped  trough  with  a  fast-revolv- 
ing paddle-wheel.  In  this  machine  the 
rubber  is  submerged  in  water,  after 
being  broken  down  in  the  cracker,  and 
the  sand  is  literally  knocked  out  of  it 
by  the  paddle-wheel.  The  sand  drops 
to  the  bottom  of  the  machine,  wdiere 
i*"  is  drained  ofif,  while  the  rubber  floats 
to  the  top  and  is  there  gathered  and 
then  put  through  a  regular  w^ashing 
machine   for   the   final   sheeting  out. 

Drying. — From  the  wash-room  the 
rubber  goes  to  the  dry-room.  Before 
the  rubber  can  be  used  in  any  articles 
of  commercial  value,  it  must  be  thor- 
oughly dried,  as  any  moisture  in  the 
stock  would  turn  to  steam  during  the 
vulcanizing  process   and  cause  blisters  - 


or  blow-holes  to  form  in  the  goods. 
There  are  two  ways  in  which  rubber 
is  usually  dried.  The  method  mostly 
used,  and  which  is  generally  practiced 
with  all  the  better  grades  of  gums,  is 
to  hang  the  washed  strips  on  hori- 
zontal poles  and  space  them  in  aisles, 
so  that  air  can  freely  circulate  all 
around  the  surface  of  the  rubber,  the 
dry-room  being  kept  at  a  constant  tem- 
perature. To  properly  dry  the  rubbers 
by  this  metho(l  takes  from  four  to  six 
weeks.  The  other  method  of  drying  is 
by  means  of  a  vacuum-drier.  Low- 
grade  rubbers  which  have  a  compara- 
tively large  percentage  of  resin  in  their 
composition  cannot  bear  their  own 
weight  when  hung  on  horizontal  poles, 
but  drop  off  and  stick  in  piles  on  the 
floor.  Hence,  these  rubbers  have  to 
be  dried  in  a  peculiar  manner.  They 
are  laid  in  trays  wdiich  are  placed  into 
a  large  air-tight  receptacle.  The  air 
i^  then  withdrawn  from  this  receptacle 
and  the  interior  heated  by  means  of 
steam  coils.  This  allows  the  water 
to  be  evaporated  ofif  from  the  rubber 
at  a  considerably  lower  temperature 
than  that  at  which  w-ater  boils  under 
atmospheric  pressure,  and  at  such  a 
low  temperature,  and  in  such  a  short 
time,  that  the  rubber  is  not  affected. 
By  this  process  these  rubbers  can  be 
dried  in  a  few  hours. 

Mixing. — After  the  rubber  has  been 
thoroughly  dried,  it  is  ready  to  be 
mixed  in  proper  proportions  with  the 
'various  ingredients  wdiich  are  used  in 
rubber  compounding,  to  give  the  de- 
sired quality  of  rubbers  for  the  various 
products  for  which  they  are  intended. 
In  order  that  rubber  shall  vulcanize,  it 
is  necessary  to  mix  with  it  a  certain 
proportion  of  sulphur,  vulcanizing,  or 
curing,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  being 
merely  the  changing  of  a  physical  mix- 
ture of  rubber  and  sulphur  into  a 
chemical  compound  of  these  ingredi- 
ents, by  the  application  of  heat.  Be- 
sides sulphur,  some  of  the  more  im- 
portant ingredients  used  in  compound- 
ing rubber  are : 

I  Zinc  oxide.- — -This  toughens  the  rub- 
ber and  increases  its  wearing  proper- 
ties and  tensile  strength. 


WHY  WE  DON'T  USE  PURE  RUBBER 


379 


Barium  sulphate. — This  stiffens  the 
rubber  and  adds  weight,  so  reducing 
the  cost. 

Lithopones. — This  whitens  the  stock 
and  makes  it  soft,  and  is  used  exten- 
sively in  druggists'  sundries. 

Antimony  sulphide. — This  makes  the 
stock  red  and  is  a  preservative  against 
oxidation. 

Litharge. — This  has  the  same  action 
as  antimony  sulphide,  but  makes  the 
stock  black. 

White  lead. — This  hastens  the  cure 
and  is  extensively  used  in  gray  and 
black  stocks,  and  is  a  good  filler  or 
weight  adder. 

Magnesia  oxide  and  carbonate. — 
These  are  used  as  fillers  for  white 
stocks. 

Oxide  of  iron. — Used  for  coloring 
red  and  yellow  stocks. 

Lime  (unslacked). — This  hastens 
vulcanization  and  chemically  removes 
any  water  left  in  the  rubber. 

Whiting. — This  is  used  only  as  a 
cheap  filler  to  increase  quantity  and 
lower  cost. 


Aluminum    silicate. 
chiefly  as  a  filler. 


-This     is     used 


There  are  also  used  in  compounding 
what  are  known  as  the  various  sub- 
stitutes. These  are  chiefly  linseed  oil 
products  and  mineral  hydrocarbons 
which  are  more  or  less  elastic,  and  act 
somewhat  as  a  flux. 


Why  Don't  We  Use  Pure  Rubber? 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  impres- 
sion that  the  various  ingredients  which 
are  mixed  with  rubber  are  put  into 
the  compounds  merely  to  cheapen  the 
product  and  to  lower  the  grade  of  the 
material.  This  is  true  in  many  cases, 
such  as  the  general  line  of  molded 
goods,  rubber  heels,  bicycle  gri])s,  au- 
tomobile bumjKTS,  etc.,  but  in  many 
cases,   such   as   tires,   packing,   belting, 


etc.,  these  ingredients  are  added  to 
toughen  the  gum,  increase  its  wearing 
qualities,  to  make  it  indestructible 
when  subjected  to  heat,  or  to  make  it 
soft  and  yielding  so  that  it  can  be 
forced   into   fabric,   etc. 

In  the  general  process  of  manufac- 
ture the  sheeted  rubber  is  sent  di- 
rectly from  the  dry-room  to  the  com- 
pound-room, where  the  various  ingre- 
dients are  weighed  out  into  proper 
proportions  along  with  the  rubber  to 
make  up  a  batch,  and  placed  in  recep- 
tacles ready  to  be  mixed.  The  batch 
is  then  sent  into  the  mill-room  to  be 
mixed  into  a  uniform  pasty  mass, 
which  is  the  characteristic  uncured,  or 
so-called  green,  rubber  compound.  The 
mixing  is  done  in  the  mill.  This  is  a 
very  heavy  machine,  constructed  simi- 
larly to  a  cracker  and  a  washer  except 
that  it  is  much  larger  and  heavier,  and 
the  rolls  are  perfectly  smooth  and  run 
closer  together.  No  water  at  all  is 
used  on  the  batch  during  the  mixing. 
There  are  steam  and  cold  water  con- 
nections to  the  mills  which  are  con- 
nected with  hollow  spaces  inside  the 
rolls,  so  that  the  latter  can  be  kept 'at 
any  temperature  desired.  The  general 
process  of  mixing  is  as  follows : 

First  the  rubber  portion  of  the  batch 
13  thrown  into  the  mill  and  is  worked 
and  warmed  up  until  it  takes  on  a 
very  sticky  and  plastic  consistency. 
When  it  has  arrived  at  a  certain  stage 
of  plasticity,  the  various  compounds  in 
the  batch,  which  are  always  in  the 
form  of  very  fine  powders,  are  thrown 
in  the  mill,  being  worked  by  the  rolls 
into  the  rubber.  The  compounds  are 
generally  thrown  on,  a  small  amount 
at  a  time,  until  they  are  all  taken  up 
by  the  rubber.  The  batch  is  then  al- 
lowed to  go  through  and  through  the 
mill,  over  and  over  again,  until  the 
mixture  is  absolutely  uniform  through- 
out the  whole  mass.  The  consistency 
of  the  rubber,  during  this  operation,  is 
such  that  the  batch  can  be  made  end- 
less around  one  of  the  rolls  of  the 
mill,  so  that  it  is  constantly  feeding 
itself  between   the  rolls. 

After  the  batch  is  properly  mixed, 
it    is    cut    off    the    rolls    in    sheets    and 


380 


PROCESS  NECESSARY  TO  MAKING  RUBBER  GOODS 


rolled  up  and  sent  to  the  grccn-stock 
store-room.  In  this  store-room  the 
compounded,  uncured  gums  are  kept 
in  different  bins,  according  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  compound,  and  are  there 
allowed  to  season  a  certain  length  of 
time,  after  which  they  are  delivered 
to  the  various  dcjiartments  of  the  fac- 
tory in  which  they  are  going  to  be 
used. 

Anotner  form  in  which  rubber  is 
used  is  the  so-called  Rubber-Cement. 
Rubber  or  any  of  its  compounds  are 
readily  soluble  in  naphtha.  In  this 
process,  the  com])Oun(ls,  after  being 
milled,  are  chewed  up  and  washed  in 
specially  constructed  cement-mills  and 
there  mixed  with  a  certain  proportion 
of  naphtha  which  gives  a  thick  solu- 
tion. 

Spreading  and  calendering. — Rubber 
which  is  used  for  the  general  line  of 
molded  goods,  solid  tires,  some  kinds 
of  tubing,  etc.,  goes  directly  to  the 
various  departments  from  the  green- 
stock  store-room,  while  rubber  used 
for  boots  and  shoes,  waterproof  fab- 
rics, many  of  the  druggists'  sundries, 
belting,  pneumatic  tires,  inner  tubes, 
etc.,  has  to  be  sheeted  out,  and  some 
of  it  forced  into  fabric  before  it  goes 
to  the  various  departments..  This 
sheeting-out  of  the  gum,  as  well  as 
applying  the  rubber  to  fabrics,  is  done 
generally  by  two  methods ;  either  by 
spreading  a  solution  of  the  rubber  and 
naphtha  onto  the  fabric,  or  by  cal- 
endering the  rubber  between  heavy 
rolls  in  a  rubber  calender. 

In  the  spreading  process,  a  machine 
called  a  spreader  is  used.  The  fabric 
to  which  the  rubber  is  to  be  applied 
is  mounted  in  a  roll  at  one  end  of  the 
spreader  and  from  the  roll  passes 
through  a  trough  of  rubber-cement, 
and  then  up  over  a  so-called  doctor 
roll,  and  under  a  knife  edge,  which 
allows  only  enough  cement  to  pass 
through  to  fill  the  pores  of  the  fabric. 
From  this  knife  the  cemented  fabric 
passes  over  a  steam  drying  chest  and 
is  then  rolled  up  with  a  roll  of  liner 
cloth  to  prevent  its  sticking  together. 
Fabric  treated  in  this  manner  must  be 


put  through  the  spreader  a  number  of 
times  before  it  has  sufficient  rubber  on 
it  to  be  used  in  the  products  for  which 
it  is  intended. 

For  calendering  rubber,  a  machine 
called  a  rubber  calender  is  used.  This 
machine  is  made  with  three  and  some- 
times four  heavy  rolls,  which  are  capa- 
ble of  very  fine  adjustment.  The  rub- 
ber from  the  green-stock  store-room  is 
first  warmed  up  on  a  small  mixing  mill 
and  is  then  fed  between  the  rolls  of 
the  calender,  coming  through  in  a  thin 
sheet  of  required  thickness,  and  is 
wound  up  in  a  liner  cloth  and  sent 
directly  to  the  departments,  where  it 
is  used  for  inner  tubes,  druggists'  sun- 
dries, etc.,  where  only  rubber  and  no 
fabric  is  used.  Where  the  rubber  is 
to  be  applied  to  fabric,  the  fabric  is 
put  through  the  calender  rolls  with  the 
rubber,  and  the  rubber  is  literally 
ground  into  the  fabric.  Fabric  treated 
in  this  manner  is  known  to  the  trade 
as  friction,  and  is  generally  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  pneumatic  tires,  belt- 
ing, hose,  etc.  For  boots,  shoes,  and 
other  special  work,  calenders  are  used 
v/hich  are  equipped  with  rolls  engraved 
with  the  shapes  of  the  soles  and  other 
parts  of  the  articles  in  question,  so 
that  the  sheet  of  rubber  coming  from 
the  machine  has  imprinted  on  it  the 
shapes  and  thickness  of  the  articles 
for  which  it  is  intended. 

After  passing  through  such  of  the 
above  processes  as  are  required  the 
rubber  is  ready  to  be  made  up  into 
the  various  articles  known  to  the  rub- 
ber trade,  such  as  boots  and  shoes, 
mackintoshes,  waterproof  fabrics,  for 
balloons,  aeroplanes,  tentings,  etc.,  me- 
chanical goods,  such  as  rubber  heels, 
horseshoe  pads,  packing,  tiling,  auto- 
mobile and  other  bumpers,  artificial 
fish  bait,  etc..  druggists'  sundries,  such 
as  nursing-bottles,  nipples,  syringes, 
bulbs,  hot-water  bottles,  tubing,  etc. 
tobacco  pouches,  rubber  belting,  golf 
and  other  balls,  insulated  wire,  fire  and 
garden  hose,  inner  tubes,  tires,  and  the 
many  other  commodities  into  the  man- 
ufacture of  which  rubber  enters. 


HOW  AUTOMOBILE  TIRES  ARE   MADE 


381 


How  Are  Automobile  Tires  Made? 

From  the  calender  room  of  the  rub- 
ber factory  the  stock  is  received  in 
the  automobile  tire  department,  in  the 
form  of  large  rolls  of  rubber-coated 
fabric,  and  in  rolls  of  sheeted  rubber 
of  virions  thicknesses  and  widths.  The 


edge  so  arranged  as  to  be  always  set 
at  45  degrees  with  the  edge  of  the 
table.  This  method  of  cutting  is  grad- 
ually being  put  aside  by  the  use  of  the 
bias  cutter,  an  extremely  up-to-date 
machine  having  jaws  which  ride  up  to 
the  end  of  the   fabric  and  pull  it   for 


TRADIXl.    K(l(lM. 


rubber-coated  fabric  is  first  cut  into 
strips  of  proper  widths  so  that  the 
edges  will  extend  from  bead  to  bead 
over  the  crown  of  the  tire.  These 
strips  are  always  cut  on  the  bias,  gen- 
erally at  a  45-degree  angle,  with  the 
edge  of  the  roll,  and  were  formerly 
all  cut  on  a  cutting-table,  a  table 
about  50  feet  long  and  6  feet  wide, 
covered  with  sheet  metal.  The  cutting 
was  done  by  two  men,  each  having  a 
knife  and  each  cutting  half-way  across 
the  cloth  along  the  edge  of  a  straight- 


a  certain  distance  under  a  knife  set  at 
a  45-degree  angle,  the  knife  being  set 
to  cut  just  when  the  jaws  have  arrived 
at  the  limit  of  their  motion.  The  ac- 
tion is  repeated  so  that  the  machine 
cuts  about  eighty  strips  a  minute.  These 
strips  are  fed  onto  a  series  of  belts 
which  carry  them  to  where  they  are 
placed,  by  boys,  into  a  book  having  a 
leaf  of  common  cloth  between  each 
strip  of  gum  fabric,  to  prevent  the 
strips  from  sticking  together. 

The  majority  of  automobile  tires  to- 


CUKJNG    K(J()M^ — SOLID    TIKI'S. 


382 


MAKING   A  PNEUMATIC  TIRE 


CURING    ROOM,   FIRST  CURE — PNEUMATICS. 


SPREADER    ROOM. 


HOW  THE  TREAD   OF  A   TIRE    IS   MADE 


383 


day  are  machine  built,  but  there  are 
still  a  great  many  built  by  hand  and 
this  is  the  process  we  shall  describe 
first.  In  this  process  the  books  of 
fabric  are  laid  up  and  spliced  into 
proper  lengths  to  go  around  the  tire 
and  allow  a  proper  lapping  for  the 
splices.  The  proper  number  of  these 
laid-up  pieces,  or  plies,  as  they  are 
called,  are  placed  together  with  cotton 
cloth  between  and  taken  to  the  tire 
builder.  The  tire  builder  mounts  the 
core,  upon  which  the  tire  is  to  be  built, 
on  the  building  stand,  generally  ce- 
menting it  so  that  the  first  ply  of  fab- 
ric will  stick  in  place.     The  first  ply  is 


is  placed  in  the  so-called  tire-building 
machine.  The  tire  core  is  mounted  on 
a  stand  attached  to  the  machine,  so 
that  it  can  be  revolved  by  power,  and 
the  fabric  is  drawn  onto  the  core 
from  the  spindle  under  a  certain  defi- 
nite tension.  The  tire-machines  roll 
the  fabric  down  by  power,  and  the 
beads  are  put  into  place  before  the 
tire  and  core  are  removed  from  the 
machine.  Thereafter  the  process  is  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  the  hand-built 
tires. 

After  the  cover  rubber  is  in  place 
the  tire  is  ready  to  have  the  tread 
applied.     The  tread  is  made  up  inde- 


TKtAD    L.WING    KUOM. 


then  stretched  onto  the  core  and 
spliced,  rolled  down  with  a  hand  roller 
onto  the  sides  of  the  core,  and  trim- 
med with  a  knife  at  the  base.  The 
following  plies  are  put  on  and  rolled 
down  in  the  same  manner,  the  beads 
being  put  in  at  the  proper  time,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  and  the  number  of 
plies  to  be  used.  After  all  the  pHes 
have  been  put  onto  the  core  the  so- 
called  cover  rubber  is  put  on.  This 
cover  rubber  is  generally  a  sheet  of 
rubber  about  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch 
thick  or  more,  and  of  the  same  com- 
pound as  the  rubber  on  the  fabric. 

In  the  case  of  the  machine-built  tire, 
the  result  is  the  same,  but  the  stock 
is  handled  as  follows:  After  the  rub- 
ber-coated fabric  has  been  cut  on  the 
bias  cutter,  the  strips  are  s])liced  and 
rolled  uj)  in   rolls  on   a   spindle  which 


pendently  of  the  tire  by  laying  up  nar- 
row strips  of  rubber,  in  different 
widths,  in  such  a  way  that  the  center 
of  the  tread  is  thicker  than  the  edges. 
In  the  case  of  the  so-called  single-cure 
tires,  which  are  wholly  vulcanized  at 
one  time,  this  tread  is  applied  to  the 
tire  directly  after  the  cover,  a  strip  of 
fabric  called  the  breaker-strip  gener- 
ally being  ])laced  underneath,  and  tiie 
building  of  the  tire  so  completed. 

In  the  general  method  of  curing,  the 
tire  is  allowed  to  remain  on  the  core, 
and  is  either  bolted  up  in  a  mold  and 
put  into  an  ordinary  heater,  or  it  is 
laid  in  a  mold  and  put  into  a  heater 
press,  where  the  hydraulic  pressure 
keeps  the  two  halves  of  the  mold 
forced  together  during  the  vulcanizing 
process.  After  the  vulcanizing  is  com- 
pleted,   the    tire    is    removed    from   the 


384 


HOW   THE   INNER   TUBES  ARE   MADE 


mold,  the  inside  is  painted  with  a 
French  talc  mixture,  the  tire  inspected 
and  cleaned,  and  so  made  ready  for 
the  market.  In  some  methods  of  cur- 
ing, instead  of  the  tire  being  put  in 
a  mold,  it  is  init  into  a  so-called  toe- 
mold,  which  is  virtually  a  pair  of  side 
flanges  only  reaching  up  as  high  as 
the  edges  of  the  tread  on  the  side  of 
the  tire.  After  the  flanges  are  fastened 
into  place,  the  whole  is  cross-wrai)ped, 
the  cross-wrapping  coming  in  direct 
contact  with  the  tread.  The  tire  in 
this  condition  is  then  put  into  the 
heater  and  vulcanized,  giving  the  so- 
called    wrapped    tread    tire.      Still    an- 


and  just  wide  enough  to  make  a  tube 
of  proper  cross-section  diameter  wdien 
the  two  long  edges  are  folded  over  and 
fastened  together  with  rubber  cement. 
These  two  long  edges  are  cut  on  a 
bevel  so  that  they  make  a  good  lap 
seam.  The  tube  is  then  pulled  over 
a  mandrel  of  proper  size  and  a  thin 
piece  of  wet  cloth  rolled  around  it, 
and  then  it  is  spirally  cross-wrapped 
with  a  long,  narrow  piece  of  wet  duck 
for  its  entire  length.  The  whole  is 
then  put  into  a  regular  heater  and  the 
tube  vulcanized.  After  vulcanizing  the 
wrapping  is  removed  and  the  tube 
stripped     from    the    mandrel,    turning 


PXEIMATIC-TIRE    ROOM — SHOWI.NLI    T1RE-I3UILI)IXG     M.ACHINES. 


Other  form  of  curing  is  to  inflate  a 
kind  of  canvas  inner  tube  inside  the 
tire  and  place  the  whole  in  a  mold. 
This  is  known  as  the  air-bag  mold 
process. 

How  Are  Inner  Tubes  Made? 

Inner  tubes  for  ])neumatic  tires  may 
be  classed  under  three  headings,  ac- 
cording to  the  methods  used  in  their 
manufacture,  viz.,  seamed  tubes,  rolled 
tubes,  and  tube-machine  tubes.  By  far 
the  greater  number  of  tubes  come 
under  the  first  two  headings.  For 
seamed  tubes,  the  rubber  is  taken  from 
the  calender  in  the  form  of  sheets 
from  one-sixteenth  to  three-sixteenths 
of  an  inch  in  thickness.  These  sheets 
are    cut    into    strips    of    proper    length 


the  tube  inside  out,  so  that  the  smooth 
side  which  is  vulcanized  next  to  the 
mandrel  appears  outside,  and  the 
rough  side  showing  the  marks  of  the 
cross-wrapping  is  inside.  The  valve 
hole  is  then  punched  in  the  tube,  the 
valve  inserted  and  the  open  ends  of 
the  tube  bulTed  down  to  a  feather 
edge.  The  tube  in  this  state  passes 
to  the  splicers,  who  cement  the  buffed 
ends  and  splice  them  together,  placing 
one  open  end  within  the  other,  making 
a  lapped  seam  around  the  tube  about 
2y2  inches  long.  The  cement  used  in 
splicing  is  generally  cured  by  an  acid 
which  chemically  vulcanizes  the  rubber 
without  the  application  of  heat.  The 
tube  is  thus  finished  and  ready  for  the 
market.     Rolled  tubes  are  made  from 


WHAT  RUBBER   IS 


385 


WRAPPING    ROOM — PNEUMATICS. 


very  thin  sheet  rubber  by  rolHng  same 
over  a  mandrel  of  proper  size,  until 
the  required  number  of  layers  of  thin 
rubber  have  been  rolled  on  to  give  the 
tube  the  desired  thickness.  The  tube 
is  then  wrapped,  cured  and  spliced,  in 
exactly  the  same  manner  as  a  seamed 
tube. 

What  Is  Rubber? 

Crude  rubber  is  a  vegetable  product 
gathered  from  certain  species  of  trees, 
shrubs,  vines  and  roots.  Its  character- 
istic peculiarities  were  early  recog- 
nized by  the  natives  of  the  tropical 
countries  in  which  it  is  found.  Records 
of  the  earliest  travelers  in  these  coun- 


tries show  that  the  natives  had  used 
various  articles,  such  as  receptacles, 
ties,  clubs,  etc.,  made  from  rubber,  but 
it  was  not  until  about  1735  that  rubber 
was  first  introduced  into  Europe.  In 
civilization  rubber  was  first  used  for 
pencil  erasers  and  in  waterproof  cloth, 
and  finally  in  cements.  Vulcanizing, 
or  the  curing  of  rubber,  was  not  dis- 
covered until  1844,  and  thereafter  the 
development  of  the  rubber  industry 
was  very  rapid,  especially  in  Great 
Britain. 

There  are  many  kinds  and  grades  of 
rubber,  and  to-day  these  can  be  di- 
vided into  two  chief  classes,  wild  and 
cultivated. 


PNEUMATir-TIRK    ROOM,    SHOWINC,    TIRE    FINISHINC. 


386 


HOW  THE  CRUDE  RUBBER  IS  SECURED 


Cintlicring  Rubber  in  South  America. 


I.  Tapping  Axe.    2.  Tin  Cup  to  Catch  the  Rubber 

Milk.    3.  The  Beginning  of  a  Rubber  "Biscuit." 

4.  A  Palm  Nut. 


Tapping  Ihe  Trees  in  Japan. 


How  the  Rubber  Looks  when  it 
comes  to  Market. 


Carrying  Balls  of  Crude  Rubber 
Making  Balls  of  Crude  Rubber.  to  Native  Market. 

Pictures  herewith  by  courtesy  of  The  B.  F.  Goodrich  Company,  Ltd. 


WHERE  RUBBER   COMES   FROM 


387 


What  Is  Wild  Rubber? 

The  first  class,  or  wild  rubbers,  are 
collected  from  trees  which  have  grown 
wild  and  where  no  cultivation  proc- 
esses whatsoever  have  been  used. 
These  rubber-producing  trees,  shrubs, 
etc.,  are  found  mostly  in  Northern 
South  America,  Central  America, 
^Mexico,  Central  Africa  and  Borneo. 

The  finest  rubber  in  the  world  is 
Fine  Para,  and  is  gathered  in  the  Ama- 
zon regions  of  South  America.  This 
rubber  has  been  gathered  in  practically 
the  same  way  for  over  a  century.  The 
natives  go  out  into  ihe  forests  and, 
selecting  a  rubber  tree,  cut  "V"-shaped 
grooves  in  the  bark  with  a  special 
knife  made  for  the  purpose,  these 
grooves  being  cut  in  herring-bone 
fashion  diagonally  around  the  tree, 
with  one  main  groove  cut  vertically 
down  the  center  like  the  main  vein  in 
a  leaf.  The  latex,  or  milk-like  liquid, 
of  the  tree,  from  which  the  rubber  is 
taken,  flows  from  these  veins  and 
down  the  center  vein  into  a  little  cup 
which  the  natives  place  to  receive  it. 
After  the  little  cups  are  filled  they  are 
gathered  and  brought  into  the  rubber 
camp,  and  there  the  latex  is  coagulated 
by  means  of  smoke.  This  is  done  by 
the  use  of  a  paddle  which  is  alternately 
dipped  into  a  bowl  of  the  latex  and 
then  revolved  in  the  smoke  from  a 
wood  or  palm-nut  fire.  This  smoke 
seems  to  have  a  preservative  efifect  on 
the  rubber  as  well  as  drying  it  out 
and  causing  it  to  harden  on  the  paddle, 
each  successive  layer  of  the  latex  caus- 
ing the  size  of  the  rubber  ball  or  bis- 
cuit to  increase.  When  a  biscuit  of 
sufficient  size  has  been  thus  coagulated 
it  is  removed  from  the  paddle  and  is 
ready  for  shijjment  to  countries  where 
rubber  products  are  manufactured. 

Para  rubber  is  sold  in  three  grades. 
Fine  Para,  which  is  the  more  carefully 
coagulated  or  smoked  rubber;  Medium 
i'ara,  which  is  rubber  gathered  and 
smoked  in  the  same  way  as  I^^ine,  but 
which  has  had  insufficient  smoking, 
and,  therefore,  more  subject  to  dete- 
rioration due  to  oxidation,  etc. ;  and 
Coarse  Para,  which  is  rubber  gathered 
from   the   drippings    from   the    rubber 


tiees  after  the  cups  have  been  re- 
moved. This  latter  grade  has  gener- 
ally a  large  percentage  of  bark  and 
other  foreign  substances  mixed  with 
it,  and  is  subject  to  even  more  dete- 
rioration than  is  Medium  Para,  as  it 
is  oftentimes  not  smoked  at  all. 

Another  important  grade  of  rubber 
coming  from  South  America  is  Cau- 
cho.  This  tree  grows  similar  to  the 
Para  trees  and  the  rubber  is  gathered 
in  a  similar  manner,  but  is  cured  by 
adding  to  the  latex  some  alkaline  solu- 
tion and  allowing  the  whole  to  dry 
out  in  the  sun.  The  value  of  this  rub- 
ber can  be  greatly  improved  by  better 
methods  of   coagulation. 

From  Central  America  and  Mexico 
comes  the  Castilloa  rubber.  This  rub- 
ber is  gathered  from  trees  in  a  very 
similar  manner  to  Para,  and  is  coagu- 
lated by  being  mixed  with  juices 
which  are  obtained  by  grinding  up  a 
certain  plant  which  grows  in  the  Cas- 
tilloa districts.  After  being  mixed 
with  this  plant  juice,  the  Castilloa  is 
spread  out  in  sheets  on  bull  hides, 
where  it  is  allowed  to  dry  in  the  sun, 
after  which  the  rubber  is  rolled  up 
and  is  ready  for  shipment.  Castilloa 
is  gathered  mostly  from  wild  trees, 
but  in  Mexico  it  has  recently  been  cul- 
tivated to  some  extent. 

From  Mexico  we  also  get  Guayule. 
This  rubber  is  obtained  from  a  certain 
species  of  shrub,  the  shrub  being  cut 
down  and  fed  into  a  grinding  or  peb- 
ble mill  where  the  branches  are 
crushed  and  ground  and  mixed  with 
water,  and  the  rubber,  which  is  con- 
tained in  little  particles  all  through  the 
wood,  is  worked  out,  being  taken  from 
the  pel)ble  mills  in  chunks  as  large  as 
a  man's  fist. 

From  Central  Africa  and  from  Bor- 
neo come  the  so-called  African  gums, 
such  as  Congo,  Soudan,  Massai.  La- 
pori,  Manicoba,  Pontianic.  etc.  Some 
of  these  rubbers  are  gathered  from 
trees,  but  most  of  them  from  vines 
and  roots,  and  the  methods  of  coag- 
ulation are  varied.  Practically  all  of 
them  arc  dried  out  in  the  sun.  These 
rul)l>ers  are  all  of  lower  grade  than 
the  Para  rubbers  of  South  America. 


388 


WHERE  CHOCOLATE  COMES  FROM 


BAGS    OF    CACAO    BEANS. 


The  Story  in  a  Stick  of  Chocolate 


Where  Does  Chocolate  Come  From? 

Perhaps  no  other  one  thing  is  so 
well  known  to  boys  and  girls  the  world 
over  as  chocolate.  Yet  there  was  a 
time,  and  not  so  many  years  ago,  as 
we  figure  time  in  history,  when  there, 
were  no  cakes  of  chocolate,  or  choco- 
late candies  to  be  had  in  the  candy 
shops,  no  chocolate  flavored  soda 
water  or  chocolate  cake.  To-day  quite 
a  panic  w^ould  be  started  if  the  world's 
supply  of  chocolate   were  cut  off. 

Chocolate  is  obtained  from  cacao, 
which  is  the  seed  of  the  cacao  tree. 
It  is  quite  often  called  cocoa,  although 
this  is  not  quite  a  correct  way  of  spell- 
ing the  word.  The  cacao  tree  grows 
to  a  height  of  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet 
when  cultivated,  but  to  a  greater  height 
when  found  growing  wild.  The  cacao 
pod  grows  out  from  the  trunk  of  the 
tree  as  shown  in  the  picture,  and  is, 
when  ripe,  from  seven  to  ten  inches 
long  and  from  three  to  five  inches  in 
diameter,  giving  it  the  form  of  an 
ellipse.  When  you  cut  one  of  these 
pods  open,  you  find  five  compartments 
or  cells,  in   each  of   which   is   a   row 


of  from  five  to  ten  seeds,  which  are 
imbedded  in  a  soft  pulp,  which  is 
pinkish  in  color.  Each  pod  then  con- 
tains from  twenty-five  to  fifty  seeds, 
which  are  what  we  call  "cocoa  beans." 

The  cacao  tree  was  discovered  for 
us  by  Christopher  Columbus,  so  that 
we  have  good  reason  to  remember  him 
aside  from  his  great  discovery  of 
America.  The  discovery  of  either  of 
these  would  be  fame  enough  for  any 
one  man,  and  it  would  be  difficult  for 
some  boys  and  girls  to  say  just  which 
of  the  two  was  Columbus'  greater 
discovery. 

Columbus  found  the  cacao  tree 
flourishing  both  in  a  wild  and  in  a  cul- 
tivated state  upon  one  of  his  voy- 
ages to  Mexico.  The  Indians  of  Peru 
and  Mexico  were  very  fond  of  it  in 
its  native  state.  They  did  not  know 
the  joy  of  eating  a  chocolate  cream, 
but  they  had  discovered  the  qualities 
of  the  cacao  bean  as  a  food  and  had 
learned  to  cultivate  it  long  before  Co- 
lumbus came  to  Mexico. 

Columbus  took  some  of  the  cacao 
beans  back  with  him  to  Spain  and  to 


DIFFERENCE   BETWEEN  CHOCOLATE   AND   CACAO 


389 


VIEW   OF   COCOA   BEANS   IN   BAG  AND  COCOA-GRINDING    MILL. 


this  day  cacao  is  much  more  exten- 
sively used  by  the  Spaniards  than  by 
any  other  nation.  The  first  record  of  its 
introduction  into  England  is  found  in 
an  announcement  in  the  Public  Ad- 
vertiser of  June  i6,  1657,  to  the  effect 
that: 

"In  Bishopgate  Street,  in  Queen's 
Head  Alley,  at  a  Frenchman's  house, 
is  an  excellent  West  Indian  drink 
called  chocolate,  to  be  sold  where  you 
may  have  it  ready  at  any  time  and  also 
unmade,  at  reasonable  rates." 

Of  course,  by  the  time  America  be- 
came settled  the  people  brought  their 
taste   for  chocolates   with   them. 


What  is  the  Difference  Between  Cacao 
and  Chocolate? 

When  the  cacao  seeds  are  roasted 
and  separated  from  the  husks  which 
surround  them,  they  are  called  cocoa- 
nibs.  Cocoa  consists  of  these  nibs 
alone,  whether  they  are  ground  or  un- 
ground,  dried  and  powdered,  or  of  the 
crude  paste  dried  in  flakes. 

Chocolate  is  made  from  the  cocoa- 
nibs.  These  nibs  are  ground  into  an 
oily  paste  and  mixed  with  sugar  and 
vanilla,  cinnamon,  cloves,  or  other 
flavoring  substances.  Chocolate  is  only 
a  product  made  from  cocoa-nibs,  but 
it  is  the  most  important  product. 


CACAO  CRACKING  MILL  AND  SHELL  SEPARATOR. 


WHAT    COCOA    BUTTER   IS 


WHERE    THE 

SHELLS    ARE 

SEPARATED 

FROM   THE 

BEAN. 


\XD    SHELL    SEPARATOR. 


COCOA     MILL. 


MILL  IN 

WHICH  THE 

BEANS     ARE 

ROASTED. 


What  Are   Cocoa  Shells? 


There  are  other  pro(kicts  which  are 
obtained  from  the  cacao  seed.  One  is 
called  Broma — which  is  the  dry  pow- 
der of  the  seeds,  after  the  oil  has  been 
taken  out. 

Cocoa  shells  are  the  husks  which 
surround  the  cocoa  bean.  These  are 
ground  up  into  a  fine  powder  and  sold 
for  making  a  kind  of  cocoa  for  drink- 
ing, although  the  flavor  is  to  a  great 
extent  missing  and  it  is,  of  course,  not 
nearly  so  nourishing  as  a  drink  of  real 
cocoa. 

What  is  Cocoa  Butter? 

The  oil  from  the  cacao  seeds,  when 
separated  from  the  seeds,  is  what  we 
call  cocoa  butter.  It  has  a  pleasant 
odor  and  chocolate-like  taste.  It  is 
used  in  making  soap,  ointments,  etc. 


COCOA    ROASTER. 


HOW   CACAO   BEANS    GROW 


391 


COCUA   TREE    WITH    FRIIT    K.\()W\    AS   COC(JA    PODS,    WHICH    CONTAIN    THE   COCOA    BEANS. 


How  is  Cacao  Gathered? 

When  the  cacatj  jxjds  ri])cn  on  the 
troi)ical  ])lantatioiis,  where  the  chmatc 
is  such  that  they  can  he  ^rown  success- 
fully, the  native  lahorer  cuts  off  the 
ripened  jjods  as  we  see  hini  (loinj,^  in 
the  picture  showing  ihe  i)0(ls  on  [\\v 
tree.     He  does  this  with  a  scissors-like 


arranj^cment  of  knives  on  a  long  pole. 

As  he  cuts  off  the  pods  he  lays  them 
on  the  ground  and  leaves  them  to  dry 
for  twenty- four  hours.  The  next  day 
they  are  cut  o|)en,  the  seeds  taken  out 
and  carried  lo  the  place  where  they 
.ire  cured   or  sweated. 

In    the   proi'css   of    cni"in<;    or   sweat- 


392 


HOW   CHOCOLATE    IS   MADE 


ing,  the  acid  which  is  found  with  the 
seeds  is  poured  off.  The  beans  are 
then  placed  in  a  sweating  box.  This 
part  of  the  process  is  for  the  purpose 
of  making  the  beans  ferment  and  is 
the  most  important  part  of  preparing 
the  beans  for  market,  as  the  quality 
and  the  flavor  of  the  beans  and,  there- 
fore, their  value  in  the  market,  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  ability  of  who- 
ever does  it  in  curing  or  fermenting. 
Sometimes  the  curing  is  done  by 
placing  the  seeds  in  trenches  or  holes 
in  the  ground  and  covering  them  with 
earth  or  clay.  This  is  called  the  clay- 
curing  process.  The  time  required  in 
curing  the  cacao  beans  varies,  but  on 
the  average  requires  two  days.  When 
cured  they  are  dried  by  exposure  to 
the  sun  and  packed  ready  for  shipping. 
At  this  time  beans  of  fine  quality  are 
found  to  have  a  warm  reddish  color. 
The  quality  or  grades  of  beans  are  de- 
termined by  the  color  at  this  stage. 


CHOrOLATP:    MILL. 

How  Chocolate  is  Made. 

W'hcn  the  cacao  beans  arrive  at  the 
chocolate  factory  they  are  put  through 
various  processes  to  develop  their 
aroma,  palatability  and  digestibihty. 

The  seeds  are  first  roasted.  In 
roasting  the  substance  which  develops 
the  aroma  is  formed.  The  roasting  is 
accomplished  in  revolving  cylinders, 
much  like  the  revolving  peanut  roast- 


ers, only  much  larger.  After  roasting 
the  seeds  are  transferred  to  crushing 
and  winnowing  machines.  The  crush- 
ing machines  break  the  husks  or 
"shells,"  and  the  winnowing  machine 
by  the  action  of  a  fan  separates  the 
shells  from  the  actual  kernel  or  bean. 
The  beans  are  now  called  cocoa-nibs. 
These  nibs  are  now  in  turn  winnowed, 
but  in  smaller  quantities  at  a  time, 
during  which  process  the  imperfect 
pieces  are  removed  with  other  foreign 
substances.  Cacao  beans  in  this  form 
constitute  the  purest  and  simplest  form 
of  cacao  in  which  it  is  sold.  The  ob- 
jection to  their  use  in  this  form  is  that 
it  is  necessary  to  boil  them  for  a  much 
longer  time,  in  order  to  disintegrate 
them,  than  when  they  are  ground  up 
in  the  form  of  meal.  For  that  reason 
the  nibs  are  generally  ground  before 
marketing  as  cacao  or  cocoa. 

Another  form  in  which  the  pure 
seeds  are  prepared  is  the  flaked  cocoa, 
'i'his  is  accomplished  by  grinding  up 
the  nibs  into  a  paste.  This  grinding 
is  done  in  a  revolving  cylinder  machine 
in  which  a  drum  revolves.  In  this 
process  the  heat  developed  by  the  fric- 
tion in  the  machine  is  sufficient  to 
liquefy  the  oil  in  the  beans  and  form 
the  paste.  The  oil  then  solidifies  again 
in  the  paste  when  it  becomes  cool. 

What  we  know  as  cakes  of  choco- 
late are  made  from  the  cocoa-nibs  by 


CHOCOLATE     FINISHER. 


PROCESSES   IN  CHOCOLATE   MAKING 


393 


CHOCOLATE   MIXER. 


heating    the    mixture    of    the    cacao,  tween  heavy  rollers  to  get  a  thorough 

sugar  and   such  flavoring  extracts  as  mixture  and  finally  poured  into  molds 

vanilla,  until  an  even  paste  is  secured,  and  allowed  to  cool.    When  cool  it  can 

This  paste  is  passed  several  times  be-  be  taken  from  the  molds  in  firm  cakes 


CHOCOLATE    MIXINC    AND    HRATINd    MACHINE. 


and  wrapped  for  the  market.  This  is 
the  way  Milk  Chocolate  is  made.  The 
difference  in  the  taste  and  consistency 
of  milk  chocolate  depends  upon  how 
many  different  things  the  chocolate 
maker  adds  to  the  pure  cocoa-nibs  to 
])roduce  this  mixture.  Often  sub- 
stances such  as  starchy  materials  are 
added  to  make  the  cakes  more  firm. 
They  add  nothing  to  the  quality  of  the 
chocolate. 

Chocolate-covered  bonbons,  choco- 
late drops,  and  the  many  dift'erent 
kinds  of  toothsome  confections  are 
prepared  in  the  American  candy  fac- 
tories, as  we  all  well  know.  The  choco- 
late covering  of  this  confectionery  is 
generally  put  on  by  dipping  the  inside 


of  the  choice  morsel  in  a  pan  of  liquid 
chocolate  paste  and  then  placing  the 
bits  in  tins  to  allow  them  to  cool  and 
harden.  ^ 

A  great  many  of  the  choicest  bits  of 
confectionery  are  now  produced  by 
machines  entirely.  These  machines  are 
almost  human,  apparently,  as  we  see 
them  make  a  perfect  chocolate  bonbon 
which  is  delivered  to  a  candy  box  all 
wrapped  for  packing.  These  wonder- 
ful machines  thus  give  us  candy  which 
has  not  been  touched  by  the  hands  of 
any  one  prior  to  the  time  we  thrust 
our  own  fingers  in  the  brightly-deco- 
rated box  and  take  our  pick  of  the 
assortment  it  offers. 


WU£1<£   XHK   l.NJJUMDLAL    PIECES    Ul-    CONFECTIUN .  ARE    WRAPPED. 


THE  TALLEST  BUILDING  IN  THE  WORLD 


395 


1N(;,    m;\v    ^■()KK    (  iiv 


This    building,    the    tallest    in    the    world,    is    cniiipiK-d    with    26    Rcarless    traction    elevators. 

Two  of  the  elevators  run  from  the  first  to  the  fifly-first  floor  with  actual  travels  of  679  feet  op 
inchen  and  f.79  feet  lu'/i  inches,  respectively.  There  is  also  a  shuttle  elevator  which  runs  from  the 
fifty-first    to    the    fifty  1  .iirth    floor. 

Total    height    of    huilding    from    curb    to    base    of    flagstaff,    792    feet. 


396 


HOW  AN   ELEVATOR   GOES  UP  AND   DOWN 


How  Does  an  Elevator  Go  Up  and  Down  ? 

Ordinarily,  when  we  think  of  an  elevator  we  think  merely  of  the  cage  or  car  in  which 
we  ride  up  or  down.  But  the  car  is  really  only  the  part  which  makes  the  elevator  of 
service  to  man,  and  from  the  standpoint  of  the  machinery,  is  a  relatively  unimportant 
part  of  the  equipment. 

There  are  two  principal  types  of  elevators  used  to-day;  the  hydraulic,  which  is  worked 
by  water  under  pressure,  and  the  electric,  which  is  worked  by  electricitj'  through  an 
electric    motor.      The    latter    type,    because    of    the    tendency    towards    the   general    use    of 

electricity  in  recent  years,  has  largely  super- 
seded the  hydraulic,  and,  as  when  you  think 
'^^BBi^  "  J^  of  elevators  you  probably  have  in  mind  those 

you   have   seen   in   some  huge  skyscraper,   we 
shall  look  at  one  of  these. 

What    are    the    Principal    Parts    of    an 
Elevator  ? 

The  most  advanced  type  of  elevator  to-day 
is  called  a  Gearless  Traction  Elevator.  In 
this  elevator  the  principal  parts  are  a  motor, 
a  grooved  wheel  on  the  motor  shaft  called 
a  driving  sheave  and  a  brake,  all  mounted 
on  one  cast-iron  bed-plate ;  a  number  of 
cables  of  equal  length  which  pass  over  the 
driving  sheave  and  thence  around  another 
grooved  wheel  called  an  idler  sheave,  located 
just  below  the  driving  sheave,  and  to  one 
end  of  which  is  attached  the  car  or  cage, 
and  to  the  other  end  a  weight  called  a  coun- 
terweight; also  a  controller  which  governs 
the  flow  of  electric  current  into  the  motor 
and  thereby  the  speed,  starts  and  stops  of  the 
elevator  car.  Although  the  controller,  motor, 
brake  and  sheaves  are  usually  placed  way  at 
the  top  of  the  building  out  of  our  sight,  they 
are  really  very  important  parts  of  the  elevator. 
The  cage  or  car  in  which  we  ride  is  held 
in  place  by  tracks  built  upright  in  the  elevator 
shaft,  and  the  counterweight  at  one  side  of 
the  shaft  travels  up  and  down  along  two  sep- 
arate upright  tracks.  When  the  car  goes  up 
the  counterweight  on  the  other  end  of  the 
cables  goes  down  an  equal  distance.  The 
counterweight  is  used  to  balance  the  load  of 
the  car  and  to  make  it  easier  for  the  motor 
to  move  the  car. 

Electricity  is  the  power  that  makes  the  car 
go  up  or  down.  The  operator  in  the  car 
moves  a  master  switch — in  one  direction  if 
he  wishes  to  go  up,  in  the  other  direction  if 
he  wishes  to  go  down.  This  master  switch 
sets  the  electro-magnetic  switches  of  the  con- 
troller at  the  top  of  the  hatchway  into  action, 
electrically,  and  the  controller  in  turn  allows 
the  electric  current  to  flow  into  the  motor. 
The  motor  then  begins  to  revolve,  gradually 
at  first,  and  then  faster,  turning  the  driving 
sheave  with  which  it  is  directly  connected. 
As  this  driving  sheave  revolves,  the  cables 
passing  over  it  are  set  in  motion,  and  the 
COMPLETE  GEARLESS  TRACTION  c^r    and    counterweight    to    which    they    are 

ELEVATOR  INSTALLATION.  attached   begin   to  move. 


THE  PRINCIPAL   PARTS   OF  AN   ELEVATOR 


39: 


Af/iq/^fT  Bfi/i/re 


ZW/i^V^  Sf/£//K£ 


Why  Does  Not  the  Car  Fall? 

Of  course,  the  question  of  safety  is  a  very  important  one  in  any  elevator,  and  you 
wonder  what  would  happen  if  the  cables  broke.  You  think  of  this  especially  when  you 
are  going  up  in  one  of  the  big  skyscrapers — where  the  elevators  sometimes  travel  to  a 
height  of  700  feet.  It  can  be  truthfully  said  that  on  every  modern  elevator  there  are 
safety  devices  which  should  make  it  practically  impossible  to  have  a  serious  accident,  due 
to  the  fall  of  the  car.  Every  elevator  is  equipped  with  wedging  or  clamping  devices 
which  automatically  grip  the  rails  in  case  the  car  goes  too  fast  either  up  or  down.  These 
gripping  devices  can  be  adjusted  to 
work  at  any  speed  that  is  desired  above 
the  regular  speed.  It  is  not  at  all  prob- 
able that  all  the  cables  will  break  at 
once,  because  there  are  usually  six  of 
these,  and  any  one  of  them  is  strong 
enough  to  hold  the  car  if  the  others 
break ;  but  even  if  they  all  should  break 
the  gripping  devices  on  the  rails  will 
operate  and  hold  the  car  safely,  just 
as  soon  as  it  starts  down  at  great 
speed. 

Suppose  that  the  car  should  descend 
at  full  speed,  but  not  sufficiently  fast 
to  work  the  rail-gripping  devices,  it 
would  be  brought  to  a  gradual  rest  at  tDU/t  s^eft^^- 
the  bottom  of  the  hatchway,  because  of 
the  oil-cushion  buffer  against  which  it 
would  strike.  This  is  a  remarkable  in- 
vention, with  a  plunger  working  in  oil 
in  such  a  way  that  a  car  striking  it  at 
full  speed  will  come  to  rest  so  gradually 
that  there  is  scarcely  any  shock.  You 
have  perhaps  seen  a  clever  juggler  on 
the  stage  throw  an  ordinary  hen's  egg 
high  into  the  air  and  catch  it  in  a  china 
dish  without  cracking  it.  He  does  it 
by  putting  the  dish  under  the  falling 
egg  just  at  the  right  moment,  and  bring- 
ing the  dish  down  with  the  egg  at  just 
the  right  speed,  so  that  eventually  he 
has  the  egg  in  the  dish  without  crack- 
ing it.  The  trick  is  in  calculating  the 
rate  of  speed  of  the  falling  egg  accu- 
rately and  adjusting  the  insertion  of  the 
dish  under  the  falling  tgg  to  a  nicety. 
The  oil-cushion  buffer  in  the  modern 
elevator  works  in  very  much  the  same 
way. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  genius  which 
has  made  possible  these  new  types  of 
elevators  we  could  not  have  the  high 
buildings.  The  elevators  in  the  Wool- 
worth  Building  are  the  latest  type  in 
modern  elevator  construction.  In  this 
one  building  alone  there  are  29  ele- 
vators, and  when  you  are  told  that  the  general  arrangement  of 
electric  elevators  in  the  United  States  "op^ng  for  gearless 
installed  by  a  single  company  represent 
a  total  of  525,000  horse-power,  you 
will  have  some  idea  of  the  power  re- 
quired to  operate  elevators  all  over  the 
country. 


traction     elevator 
stallation. 


398 


WHAT  THE  AIR   WEIGHS 


Does  Air  Weigh  Anything? 

Air  is  very  light,  so  light  that  it  seems 
to  have  no  weight  at  all;  but,  if  you 
will  think  a  minute  you  will  see  that  it 
must  have  some  weight,  because  birds 
tiy  in  it  and  balloons  can  be  made  to 
float  through  it.  It  has  been  found 
that  one  hundred  cubic  inches  of  air 
at  the  sea  level  weighs,  under  ordinary 
conditions,  about  thirty-one  grains. 
This  seems  a  very  small  weight,  but 
when  we  remember  the  thickness  of  the 
atmospheric  envelope  over  the  earth  we 
see  that  it  must  press  quite  heavily  upon 
the  earth's  surface.  There  is  a  very 
simple  instrument  called  a  barometer, 
which  is  used  for  measuring  the  amount 
of  this  pressure.  The  name  means 
pressure-measure. 

Another  striking  feature  of  air  is  its 
elasticity,  and  this  explains  something 
that  is  noticed  by  -all  mountain  climbers. 
On  a  high  mountain,  it  is  difficult  to  get 
enough  air  to  the  lungs,  though  one 
breathes  rapidly  and  deeply.  The  rea- 
son is,  that  the  air  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  is  compressed  by  the  weight 
of  that  above  it,  and  consequently  the 
lungs  can  hold  more  of  it  than  of  the 
air  on  the  mountain  top,  which  has  less 
weight  resting  upon  it  and  is,  there- 
fore, not  so  much  compressed.  On  ac- 
count of  the  ease  with  which  it  is  com- 
pressed, we  find  that  more  than  half  of 
all  the  envelope  of  air  that  surrounds 
the  earth  is  within  three  miles  of  the 
surface. 

When  air  is  chemically  analyzed  it  is 
found  to  consist  of  a  number  of  sub- 
siances  mingled  together,  but  not  chem- 
ically united.  These  include  nitrogen, 
oxygen,  argon,  carbonic  acid  gas,  water 
vapor,  ozone,  nitric  acid,  ammonia,  and 
dust. 

Oxygen  is  the  most  important  of 
these  constituents,  for  it  is  the  part  that 
is  necessary  to  su])port  life.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding its  importance,  it  forms 
cnly  about  one-fifth  of  the  entire  bulk 
cf  the  atmosphere. 

Oxygen  is  a  very  interesting  sub- 
stance and  many  striking  experiments 
may  be  performed  with  it.  If  a  lighted 
candle  is  thrust  into  a  vessel  filled  with 


oxygen,  it  burns  very  much  more  ra])- 
idly  and  brilliantly  than  in  air.  A  piece 
of  wood  with  a  mere  spark  on  it  bursts 
into  flanu'  and  burns  brightly  when 
thrust  into  oxygen,  and  some  things 
that  will  not  burn  at  all  in  air,  can  l)c 
made  to  burn  very  rapidly  in  oxygon. 
For  example,  if  a  piece  of  clock  spring 
be  dipped  in  melted  sulphur  and  then 
]uit  into  a  jar  of  oxygen,  after  the  sul- 
phur has  been  set  on  fire,  the  steel 
spring  will  take  fire  and  burn  fiercely. 
The  heat  produced  is  so  great  that  dro]:)S 
of  molten  steel  form  at  the  end  of  the 
s])ring,  and  falling  on  the  bottom  of  the 
jar,  melt  the  surface  of  the  glass  where 
they  strike. 

The  other  two  substances  found  in 
pure  air,  nitrogen  and  argon,  are  very 
much  alike.  They  make  up  the  remain- 
ing four-fifths  of  the  air,  and  are  very 
dififerent  from  oxygen  in  nearly  every 
respect. 

Nitrogen  and  argon  resemble  oxygen 
m  being  colorless,  odorless,  and  taste- 
less gases ;  and  they  are  of  nearly  the 
same  weight  as  oxygen,  argon  being  a 
little  heavier  and  nitrogen  a  little 
lighter;  but  here  the  similarity  ends. 
Oxygen  is  what  we  call  a  very  active 
substance.  As  we  have  seen,  it  causes 
things  to  burn  very  much  more  rapidly 
in  it  than  in  air.  Nitrogen  and  argon, 
on  the  contrary,  jiut  out  fire.  If  a 
lighted  candle  is  put  into  a  jar  of  nitro- 
gen or  argon  its  flame  will  be  extin- 
guished as  quickly  as  if  put  into  water. 

We  must  now  consider  the  im])uri- 
ties  found  in  air.  Of  these  the  most 
important  is  carbonic  acid  gas,  or,  as  it 
is  frequently  called,  carbon  dioxide.  It 
is  always  produced  when  wood  or  coal 
is  burned,  and  is,  of  course,  constantly 
being  poured  out  of  chimneys.  It  is 
also  produced  in  our  lungs  and  we  give 
ofif  some  of  it  when  we  breathe.  It  is 
colorless,  like  the  gases  found  in  pure 
air,  has  no  odor  or  taste,  and  is  consid- 
erably heavier  than  oxygen  or  nitrogen. 
In  its  other  properties  it  is  much  more 
hke  nitrogen  than  oxygen,  for  when  a 
candle  is  put  into  it  the  flame  is  ex- 
tinguished at  once.  To  find  out  w^hether 
air  contains  carbonic  acid  gas,  it  is  only 
necessary  to  force  it  through  a  little 


WHY  THE   MOON   TRAVELS  WITH   US 


399 


lime  water,  in  a  glass  vessel,  and  watch 
what  change  takes  place  in  the  water. 
Fresh  lime  water  is  as  clear  as  pure 
\vater ;  but  after  forcing  air  containing 
carbonic  acid  through  it,  it  becomes 
turbid  and  milky.  If  the  turbid  water 
is  allowed  to  stand  for  a  time,  a  white 
powder  will  settle  to  the  bottom,  and  if 
Vv'e  examine  this  powder,  we  find  it  to 
be  very  much  the  same  thing  as  chalk. 
While  it  is  true  that  air  generally  con- 
tains only  a  very  small  portion  of  car- 
bonic acid  gas,  there  are  some  places  in 
which  it  is  present  in  such  large  quan- 
tities as  to  render  the  air  unfit  for 
breathing.  The  air  at  the  bottom  of 
deep  mines  and  old  wells  often  has  an 
unusually  large  proportion  of  this  gas, 
which,  because  of  its  great  weight,  ac- 
cumulates at  the  bottom,  and  remains 
confined  there.  The  presence  of  a 
dangerous  quantity  of  the  gas  in  such 
places  may  be  detected  by  lowering  a 
candle  into  it. 

Why  Does  the  Scenery  Appear  to  Move 
When  We  Are  Riding  in  a  Train? 

When  you  sit  in  a  moving  train 
looking  out  of  the  window  it  appears 
as  though  the  fields,  the  telegraph 
poles  and  everything  else  outside  were 
moving,  instead  of  you.  This  is  be- 
cause our  only  ideas  of  motion  are  ar- 
rived at  by  comparison,  and  the  fact 
that  neither  you  nor  the  seats  of  the 
car  or  any  other  part  of  the  inside  of 
the  car  is  changing  its  position,  leads 
you  to  the  delusion  that  the  things  out- 
side the  car  are  moving  and  not  you. 
If  you  were  to  jmll  down  all  the  cur- 
tains and  the  train  were  making  no 
noise  at  all,  you  would  not  think  that 
anything  was  moving.  It  would  ap- 
pear as  though  you  were  motionless 
just  as  everything  in  the  car  appears 
so.  When  you  turn  then  to  the  win- 
dow, and  lift  the  curtain  you  carry  in 
the  back  of  your  mind  the  idea  of  be- 
ing at  rest  and  that  is  what  makes  it 
ajjpear  as  though  the  fields  and  every- 
thing outside  were  moving  in  an  op- 
])Ositc  direction. 

This  is  ]>art1cu1arly  noticeable  when 
you   are   in   a   train    in    a   station    with 


another  train  on  the  next  track.  There 
is  a  sense  of  motion  if  one  of  the 
trains  only  is  moving  and  you  feel  that 
it  is  the  other  train,  because  you  are 
surrounded  by  objects  in  the  car  which 
are  at  rest,  and  when  you  look  out  at 
the  other  train  with  this  half  con- 
sciousness of  rest  in  your  mind,  it  ap- 
pears as  though  the  other  train  were 
moving  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  it 
is  your  train.  If  the  delusion  happens 
to  be  turned  the  other  way,  it  will  ap- 
pear as  though  you  are  moving  and 
the  other  is  still.  It  depends  upon  what 
cause  the  impression  starts  with. 

Why  Don't  the  Scenery  Appear  to  Move 
When  I  am  in  a  Street  Car  ? 

If  you  are  in  a  street  car  in  the 
country  and  moving  along  fast  you 
will  receive  the  same  impression,  es- 
pecially in  a  closed  car,  because  you 
are  looking  out  of  one  hole  or-  one 
window.  In  an  open  car  you  do  not 
receive  the  same  impression  because 
your  range  of  vision  is  broader.  You 
can  and  do,  although  perhaps  uncon- 
sciously, look  out  on  both  sides  and 
the  impression  your  mind  gets  through 
the  eyes  is  not  the  same.  If  you  were 
to  pull  down  all  the  storm  curtains  in 
a  moving  open  street  car,  and  then 
look  out  of  one  little  crack,  you  would 
tliink  the  outside  was  moving.  But  if 
you  stop  to  remember  that  you  are 
moving  and  not  the  things  outside  the 
car,  then  the  impression  vanishes.  In 
the  city,  of  course,  your  brain  is  so 
thoroughly  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  houses  and  pavements  do  not 
move,  and  the  cars  move  so  much 
more  slowly,  that  it  is  difiicult  to  make 
yourself  believe  otherwise.  The  im- 
pression is  more  difficult  always  when 
you  are  moving  through  or  past  ob- 
jects with  which  you  are  perfectly 
familiar.  It  is  all,  of  course,  a  ques- 
tion of  impressions. 

Why  Does  the  Moon  Travel  With  Us 

When  We  Walk  or  Ride? 

The  moon  does  not  really  tnivcl 
with  ns.  Il  only  seems  to  do  so.  'i^ic 
moon    is    so    far   away   that    when    we 


400 


THE   MAN    IN   THE    MOON 


walk  a  block  or  two  or  a  hundred,  we 
cannot  notice  any  relative  difference 
in  the  relative  positions  of  the  moon 
and  ourselves.  When  a  thing  is  close 
at  hand  we  can  notice  every  change  in 
our  position  toward  it,  but  when  it  is 
far  away  the  change  of  our  position 
toward  it  is  so  slight  that  it  is  hardly 
perceptible.  A  very  good  way  to  il- 
lustrate this  is  to  ask  you  to  recall  the 
last  time  you  were  in  a  railroad  train 
looking  out  at  the  scenery  in  the  coun- 
try. The  telegraph  poles  rush  past 
you  so  fast  you  cannot  count  them. 
The  cows  in  the  pasture  beside  the 
railroad  do  not  seem  to  go  by  so  fast. 
You  can  count  them  easily.  The  tree 
farther  over  in  the  next  field  does  not 
appear  to  be  moving  but  slightly,  while 
the  church  steeple  which  you  can  see 
far  in  the  distance,  does  not  go  out  of 
sight  for  a  long  time — in  fact,  seems 
almost  to  be  moving  along  with  you. 
The  moon  is  just  like  the  church 
steeple  in  this  case,  except  that  it  is  so 
much  farther  away  that  it  seems  to 
travel  right  with  you.  It  is  all  due  to 
the  fact  as  stated  at  the  beginning  of 
;his  answer,  that  the  relative  positions 
Df  yourself  and  the  moon  are  only 
slightly  changed  as  you  move  from 
place  to  place,  so  slight  in  fact  as  to 
appear  imperceptible. 


Is  There  a  Man  in  the  Moon? 

The  markings  which  we  see  on  the 
face  of  the  moon  when  it  is  full  can 
by  a  stretch  of  the  imagmation  be 
said  to  form  the  face  of  a  man.  On 
some  nights  this  face  appears  to  be 
quite  distinct.  If,  however,  we  look  at 
the  moon  through  a  telescope,  we  see 
distinctly  that  it  is  not  the  face  of  a 
man.  Through  a  very  large  telescope 
we  can  see  very  plainly  that  the  marks 
are  mountains  and  craters  of  extinct 
volcanoes.  It  just  happens  that  these 
marks  on  the  moon,  aided  by  the  re- 
flections of  the  light  from  the  sun, 
which  gives  the  moon  all  the  light  it 
has,  make  a  combination  that  looks 
like  a  face. 


Does   the    Air   Surrounding   the   Earth 
Move  With  It? 

This  is  one  of  the  old  puzzling  ques- 
tions which  many  a  high-school  stu- 
dent has  had  to  struggle  with  to  the 
great  amusement  of  the  teacher  who 
asks  for  the  information  and  such 
other  scholars  who  have  already  had 
the  experience  of  trying  to  solve  it. 

To  get  at  the  right  answer  you  have 
merely  to  ask  one  other  question.  If 
the  air  does  not  revolve  with  the  earth, 
why  can't  I  go  up  in  a  balloon  at  New 
York,  and  stay  up  long  enough  for  the 
earth  to  revolve  on  its  axis  beneath 
me,  and  come  down  again  when  the 
city  of  San  Francisco  appears  under 
the  balloon,  which  should  be  in  about 
four  hours?  If  that  were  possible, 
travel  would  be  both  rapid  and  com- 
fortable, for  then  we  could  sit  quietly 
in  a  balloon  while  the  earth  traveling 
beneath  us  would  get  all  the  bumps. 

No,  the  atmosphere  surrounding  the 
earth  moves  right  along  with  the  earth 
on  its  axis.  If  it  were  not  so,  the 
earth  would  probably  burn  up — at 
least  no  living  thing  could  remain  on 
it — since  the  friction  of  the  surface 
of  the  air  against  the  surface  of  the 
earth  would  develop  such  a  heat  that 
nothing  could  live  in  it. 

Why  Does   Oiling  the  Axle  Make   the 
Wheel  Turn  More  Easily? 

If  you  look  at  w^hat  appears  to  be 
a  perfectly  smooth  axle  on  a  bicycle 
or  motor  car  through  a  powerful  mag- 
nifying glass,  you  will  find  that  the 
surface  of  the  axle  is  not  smooth  at 
all,  as  you  may  have  thought,  but 
covered  with  what  appear  to  be  quite 
large  bumps  or  irregularities  in  the 
surface.  If  you  were  to  examine  the 
inside  of  the  hub  of  the  wheel  in  the 
same  way,  you  would  find  that  it  also 
is  like  that.  Now,  when  you  attempt 
to  turn  a  wheel  on  the  axle  without 
oil,  these  little  irregularities  or  bumps 
grind  against  each  other,  producing 
what  we  call  friction.  As  friction  de- 
velops heat,  the  metal  of  the  axle  and 
the  hub  expand  and  the  wheel  gets 
stuck. 


WHY  A   FIRE   IS  HOT 


401 


What  Made  the  Mountains? 

There  is  no  question  but  that  at  one 
time  the  surface  of  the  earth  was 
smooth,  i.  e.,  there  were  no  big  hills  and 
no  deep  valleys.  That  was  before  the 
mountains  were  made.  The  earth  was 
a  hot  molten  mass  that  began  to  cool 
off  from  the  outside  inward.  It  is  still 
a  hot  molten  mass  inside  today.  The 
outside  crust  became  cooler  and  cooler 
and  the  crust  became  deeper  and  deeper 
all  the  time.  Then  when  there  would 
be  an  eruption  of  the  red-hot  mass  in- 
side, the  earth's  crust  would  be  bulged 
out  in  some  places  and  sucked  in  in 
others  and  would  stay  that  way.  The 
bulged  out  place  became  a  range  of 
mountains  and  the  sucked  in  place  be- 
came a  valley.  This  process  went  on 
happening  over  and  over  again  until  the 
crust  of  the  earth  became  firmly  set. 
Volcanos  caused  some  of  these  erup- 
tions, as  also  did  earthquakes.  There 
are  today  gradual  changes  occurring 
which  to  a  certain  extent  change  the 
outside  surface  of  the  earth,  and  it  is 
possible  that  new  mountain  ranges  will 
be  produced  in  this  way. 

What  Makes  the  Sea  Roar? 

The  roar  of  the  sea  is  a  movement 
of  the  sea  which  causes  the  same  kind 
of  air  waves  or  sound  waves  that  you 
make  when  you  shout,  excepting  that, 
of  course,  the  vibrations  do  not  occur 
so  quickly  in  the  sea  and,  therefore, 
the  sound  produced  is  a  low  sound.  It 
is  no  different  in  any  sense  than  the 
same  noise  would  be  if  the  same  air 
waves  could  be  produced  on  the  land 
away  from  the  water. 

Why  Is  Fire  Hot? 

When  a  fire  is  lighted  it  throws  off 
v/hat  we  call  heat  rays  or  waves.  These 
waves  are  very  much  like  the  waves 
of  light  which  come  from  a  light  or  fire 
or  the  air  waves  which  produce  sounds. 
The  rays  of  light  and  heat  which  come 
ftom  the  sun  are  like  the  rays  of  light 
and  heat  from  a  fire.  Heat  is  of  two 
kinds — heat  proj)er  which  is  resident 
i'l  the  body,  anrl  rarliant  heat  which  is 


the  kind  which  comes  to  us  from  the 
sun  or  from  a  fire.  This  radiant  heat 
is  not  heat  at  all,  but  a  form  of  wave 
motion  thrown  out  by  the  vibrations  in 
the  ether.  The  heat  we  feel  is  the  sen- 
sation produced  upon  our  skins  when 
it  comes  in  contact  with  the  waves  cre- 
ated by  the  fire.  Heat  was  formerly 
thought  to  be  an  actual  substance,  but 
we  know  now  that  radiant  heat  is 
known  to  be  the  energy  of  heat  trans- 
ferred to  the  ether  which  fills  all  of 
space  and  is  in  all  bodies  also.  The 
hot  body  which  sets  the  particles  of 
either  in  vibration  and  this  vibrating 
motion  in  the  form  of  waves  travels  in 
aU  directions.  When  these  vibrations 
strike  against  our  skin  they  produce  a 
heat  sensation ;  striking  other  objects 
these  vibrations  may  produce  instead  ot 
a  heat  sensation,  either  chemical  action 
or  luminosity.  This  is  determined  by 
the  length  of  the  vibratory  rays  in  each 
case. 

V/hen  I  Throw  a  Ball  Into  the  Air 
While  Walking,  Why  Does  It  Follow 
Me? 

When  you  throw  a  ball  into  the  air 
while  moving  your  body  forward  or 
backward,  either  slowly  or  fast,  the  ball 
partakes  of  two  motions — the  one  up- 
ward and  the  forward  or  backward  mo- 
tion of  your  body.  The  ball  possessed 
the  motion  of  your  body  before  it  left 
your  hand  to  go  up  into  the  air  because 
your  body  was  moving  before  you 
threw  it  up,  and  the  ball  was  a  part  of 
you  at  the  time. 

If  you  are  moving  forward  up  to  the 
time  you  throw  the  Ijall  into  the  air  and 
stop  as  soon  as  you  let  go  of  the  ball, 
it  will  fall  at  some  distance  from  you. 
Also  if  you  throw  the  ball  up  from  a 
standing  position  and  move  forward  as 
soon  as  tiie  ball  leaves  your  hand  the 
ball  will  fall  behind  you,  j)rovided  you 
actually  threw  it  straight  up. 

Of  course,  you  know  that  the  earth 
is  moving  many  miles  per  hour  on  its 
axis  and  that  when  you  throw  a  hall 
straight  into  the  air  from  a  standing 
I)osition,  the  earth  and  yourseh'  as  well 
as  the  ball  move  with  the  oarlh  a  long 


402 


WHY  SOME  PEOPLE  ARE  DARK  AND  OTHERS  LIGHT 


distance  before  the  ball  conies  down 
a^ain.  The  relative  position  is,  how- 
ever, the  same.  We  get  our  sense  of 
motion  by  a  comparison  with  other  ob- 
jects. If  you  are  in  a  train  that  is 
moving  swiftly  and  another  train  goes 
by  in  the  opposite  direction  moving  jusr 
as  fast,  you  seem  to  be  going  twice  as 
fast  as  you  really  are.  If  the  train  on 
the  other  track,  however,  is  going  at  the 
same  rate  of  speed  and  in  the  same  di- 
rection as  you  are,  you  will  appear  to 
be  standing  still. 

Going  back  to  the  ball  again,  you  will 
find  that  it  always  partakes  of  the  mo- 
tion of  the  body  holding  it  in  addition 
to  the  motion  given  when  it  is  thrown 
up. 

What  Good  Are  the  Lines  On  the  Palms 
of  Our  Hands? 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  lines  on  the 
pc.lms  of  our  hands  are  of  any  great 
service  to  us.  Indeed  it  is  doubtful  if 
they  are  of  any  value  in  themselves,  out- 
side of  the  possible  aid  they  may  be  in 
helping  us  to  determine  the  character 
of  the  surface  of  things  which  we 
grasp  or  touch.  It  is  possible  that  they 
aid  in  some  slight  degree  in  this  way. 
There  is  little  doubt,  however,  that  they 
are  a  result  of  the  \vork  the  hands  are 
constantly  called  upon  to  do  rather  than 
contrived  for  any  particular  service. 
The  habitual  tendency  of  the  fingers  in 
grasping  and  holding  things  throws  the 
skin  of  the  palms  into  creases  which 
through  frequent  repetition  make  the 
lines  of  the  palms  permanent  in  several 
instances. 

The  peculiarities  of  these  lines  or 
creases  in  various  individuals  as  to  de- 
tails and  length  and  variations  is  the 
chief  basis  of  the  so-called  science  of 
palmistry. 

What  Makes  Things  Whirl  Round  When 
I  Am  Dizzy? 

The  medical  term  that  describes  this 
condition  of  turning  or  wdiirling  is  ver- 
tigo, which  means  in  simple  language 
"to  turn."  There  are  two  kinds  of 
dizziness — one  where  the  objects  about 


us  seem  to  be  turning  round  and  round 
and  the  other  where  the  person  who  is 
(l^'zzy  seems  to  himself  to  be  turnhig 
round  and  round. 

One  cause  of  this  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  when  you  are  dizzy  the  eyes  are  not 
in  complete  control  of  the  brain  and  the 
eyes  moving  independently  of  each 
other  look  in  different  directions  and 
])roduce  this  tUiuing  efifect  on  the  brain, 
since  each  eye  then  sends  a  different 
impression  to  the  brain  instantly. 

The  principal  cause  of  the  sense  of 
dizziness  is^  however,  the  httle  organ 
which  gives  us  our  power  to  balance 
and  which  is  located  near  the  ears. 
Sometimes  this  organ  becomes  diseased 
and  peo]>le  affected  in  this  way  are  al- 
most continually  dizzy.  Whenever  this 
organ  of  balance  is  disturbed  we  lose 
our  idea  of  balance  and  the  turning  sen- 
sation occurs. 

It  is  easy  to  make  yourself  dizzy.  All 
you  do  is  to  turn  round  a  few  times  in 
the  same  direction  and  stop.  In  doing 
this  you  disturb  the  little  organ  of  bal- 
ance and  things  begin  to  turn  a])])ar- 
ently  before  your  eyes.  If  you  turn  the 
other  way  you  right  matters  again  or 
if  you  just  stand  still  matters  will  right 
themselves.  There  is  no  great  harm  in 
making  yourself  dizzy  and  very  little 
fun. 

Why    Are    the    Complexions    of    Some 
People  Light  and  Others  Dark? 

This  difference  in  the  complexions 
of  people  is  due  to  the  varying  amounts 
of  pigment  or  coloring  material  in  the 
cells  of  which  the  skins  of  all  animals 
is  made  up.  Very  light  people  have 
very  little  pigment;  very  dark  people, 
those  with  dark  eyes  and  black  hair, 
have  a  great  deal  of  this  coloring  ma- 
terial in  their  cells.  A  great  many 
people  are  neither  light  or  very  dark. 
They  have  less  than  the  dark-complex- 
ioned people  and  more  than  the  light- 
complexioned  people.  When  the  hair 
turns  gray  it  is  because  the  pigment  has 
disappeared.  As  this  is  due  to  the  loss 
of  this  coloring  material,  dark-complex- 
ioned people  turn  gray  sooner  than 
light-complexioned  people.     The  struc- 


WHY   MOST  PEOPLE  ARE  RIQHT=HANDED 


403 


til  re  of  the  skin  showing  how  these  cells 
are  made  in  layers  can  be  seen  by  ex- 
amining the  skin  with  a  microscope. 

What  Makes  Me  Tired? 

Men  were  wrong  for  a  long  time  in 
their  conclusions  as  to  what  produced 
the  tired  feeling  in  us. 

We  know  now  that  every  activity  of 
our  body  registers  itself  on  the  brain. 
When  we  move  an  arm  or  leg  a  great 
many  times  we  soon  feel  tired.  Every 
time  you  move  your  arm  the  movement 
is  registered  in  the  brain,  and  after  a 
number  of  these  movements  are  regis- 
tered the  tired  feeling  in  the  arm  ap- 
pears. It  is  said  that  every  movement 
of  any  part  of  the  body  really  produces 
certain  defective  cells  and  that  these 
accumulate  in  the  blood.  When  these 
reach  a  certain  number  the  tired  feeling 
takes  possession  of  us,  and  when  we 
rest,  the  blood  under  the  guidance  of 
the  brain,  goes  to  work  and  rebuilds 
these  defective  cells.  We  know  that  a 
change  takes  place  in  the  blood  when 
we  become  tired  because,  if  you  take 
some  of  the  blood  from  an  animal  that 
shows  unmistakable  signs  of  fatigue 
and  inject  if  into  an  animal  that  shows 
no  tired  feeling  at  all,  the  second  animal 
will  begin  to  show  signs  of  fatigue 
even  though  it  is  not  active  at  all. 

We  used  to  think  that  being  tired  in- 
dicated that  our  bodies  were  in  need  of 
food  and  that  the  way  to  overcome  it 
was  to  eat  a  big  meal.  We  did  not  stop 
to  think  that  even  when  we  are  hungry 
the  human  body  has  sufficient  food  sup- 
ply stored  up  to  keep  it  going  for  days 
without  taking  in  new  food.  Of  course, 
this  mistake  was  made  because  we  knew 
that  our  power  and  energy  came  as  a 
result  of  the  food  we  took  into  our 
systems,  but  this  belief  was  exj^loded 
when  it  was  found  that  a  really  tired 
person  could  hardly  cligest  food  while 
tired,  anrl  that  it  is  best  for  ])cc)plc 
who  are  very  tired  to  eat  only  a  light 
meal. 

Why  Are  Most  People  Riqrht-Handed? 

Most  pcfjpic  are  right-handed  because 
they  are  trained  that  way.    Being  right- 


handed  or  left-handed  depends  largely 
on  how  we  get  started  in  that  connec- 
tion. When  we  are  young  we  form  the 
habit  generally  of  being  either  right- 
handed  or  left-handed,  as  the  case  may 
be.  Most  people  correct  their  children 
-when  it  appears  they  are  likely  to  be- 
come left-handed,  as  we  have  come  to 
think  that  it  is  better  to  be  right-handed 
than  left,  and  that  is  the  reason  why 
most  people  are  right-handed.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  if  we  were  trained  per- 
fectly, we  should  all  be  both  right- 
handed  and  left-handed  also.  Some 
people  are  so  trained  and,  when  we 
refer  to  their  ability  to  do  things  equally 
well  with  both  hands  and  wish  to  bring 
out  this  fact,  we  say  they  are  ambi- 
dextrous. It  is  not  natural  that  one 
hand  should  be  trained  to  do  things 
while  the  other  is  not. 


Why  Are  Some  Faculties  Stronger  Than 
Others  ? 

All  of  our  senses  are  capable  of  being 
developed  so  that  our  ability  along  these 
lines  would  be  about  equal.  The  trouble 
is  that  we  soon  begin  to  develop  one  or 
more  of  our  faculties  in  an  unusual 
manner  at  the  expense  of  the  develop- 
ment of  others.  Many  people  have  a 
keener  sense  of  observation  than  others 
because  they  have  had  more  and  better 
training  along  that  line.  It  is  a  pity 
that  more  attention  is  not  given  to  the 
development  of  the  power  of  observa- 
tion in  children,  because  it  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  accomplishments  that  we 
can  possess  ourselves  of.  With  the 
sense  of  observation  developed  to  the 
highest  degree,  many  of  the  other  facul- 
ties need  not  be  developed  so  strongly 
because,  if  we  notice  every  thing  that 
it  is  possible  for  us  to  see,  we  do  not 
b.ave  the  need  of  thf  dcvelopnicnt  of 
other  powers  to  the  same  extent. 

It  is  said  tliat  it  would  be  possible 
to  so  train  an  infant  and  bring  him  up 
to  maturity  with  all  his  faiulties  de- 
xc'loprd  and  in  j)ractically  an  even  way. 
If  wi'  (h(\  ih.it  we  would  have  a  won- 
derfully   iiilclligrnt    being. 


404 


HOW   CHINA    IS    MADE 


Glazing  plates. 


Decorating  china  cups. 


The  Story  in  a  Cup  and  Saucer 


Many  different  kinds  of  raw  materials 
are  required  to  produce  the  clay  from 
which  china  is  formed,  and  these  in- 
f^redients  come  from  widely  separated 
localities.  Clays  from  Florida,  North 
Carolina.  Cornwall  and  Devon.  Flint 
from  Illinois  and  Pennsylvania.  Bo- 
racic  acid  from  the  Mojave  Desert  and 
Tuscany.  Cobalt  from  Ontario  and 
Saxony.  Feldspar  from  Maine.  All 
these  and  more  must  enter  into  the  mak- 
insT  of  every  piece. 


Grinders  lor 


lazing  materials. 


These  materials  are  reduced  to  fine 
powder  and  stored  in  huge  bins.  Be- 
tween these  bins,  on  a  track  provided 
for  the  purpose,  the  workmen  push  a 
car  which  bears  a  great  box.  Under 
this  box  is  a  scale  for  weighing  the  ex- 
act amount  of  each  ingredient  as  it  is 
put  in,  for  too  much  of  one  kind  of  clay 
or  too  little  of  another  would  seriously 
impair  the  quality  of  the  finished  china. 


From  bin  to  bin  this  car  goes,  gather- 
ing up  so  m.any  pounds  of  this  material 
and  so  many  pounds  of  that,  until  its 
load  is  complete.  Then  it  is  dumped 
into  one  of  the  great  round  tanks  called 
"blungers,"      where      big      electrically 


Mill  for  pulverizing  materials. 

driven  paddles  mix  it  with  water  until 
it  has  the  consistency  of  thick  cream. 
Flrom  the  Hungers  this  iliquid  mas,s 
passes  into  another  and  still  larger  tank, 
called  a  "rough  agitator,"  and  is  there 
kept  constantly  in  motion  until  it  is 
released  to  run  in  a  steady  stream  over 
the  "sifters." 

These  sifters  are  vibrating  tables  of 
finest  silk  lawn,  very  much  like  that 


HOW  THE  DISHES  ARE  SHAPED 


405 


used  for  bolting  flour  at  the  mills.  The 
material  for  china  making  strains 
through  the  silk,  while  the  refuse,  in- 
cluding all  foreign  matter,  little  lumps, 
etc.,  runs  into  a  waste  trough  and  is 
thrown  away.  From  the  sifters  the 
liquid  passes  through  a  square  box-like 
chute,  in  which  are  placed  a  number 
of  large  horseshoe  magnets,  which  at- 
tract to  themselves  and  hold  any  par- 
ticles of  harmful  minerals  which  may 
be  in  the  mixture. 

After  leaving  the  magnets  the  fluid 
is  free  from  impurities,  and  is  dis- 
oharjged  into  another  huge  tank  called 
the  "smooth  agitator."  While  the  fluid 
is  in  this  tank  a  number  of  paddles  keep 
it  constantly  in  motion. 


Pressing  the  water  from  the  clay. 

From  the  smooth  agitator  the  mix- 
ture is  forced  under  high  pressure  into 
a  press  where  a  peculiar  arrangement 
of  steel  chambers  packed  with  heavy 
canvas  allows  the  water  to  escape,  fil- 
tered pure  and  clear,  but  retains  the  clay 
in  discs  or  leaves  weighing  about  thirty 
pounds  each.  From  the  presses  this 
damp  clay  is  taken  out  to  the  "pug 
mills,"  where  it  is  all  groimd  up  to- 
gether, reduced  to  a  uniform  consist- 
ency, and  cut  into  blocks  of  convenient 
size.  It  is  now  ready  to  use.  Auto- 
matic elevators  carry  it  to  the  work- 
men upstairs. 

The  exact  process  of  handling  the 
clay  differs  with  articles  of  different 
shapes-.  Some  are  molded  by  hand  in 
jjlaster  of  paris  molds  of  i)roper  shape, 
while  others  are  formed  by  machine. 
To  make  a  plate,  for  example,  the  work- 
man takes  a  lump  of  clay  as  large  as 
a  teacup.     He  lays  this  on  a  flat  stone, 


and  with  a  large,  round,  flat  weight, 
strikes  it  a  blow  which  flattens  the  ma- 
terial out  until  it  resembles  douo:h  rolled 


Molding  Dishes.     The  racks  to  the  left  are  full 
of  molds  on  which  the  clay  is  drying. 

otit  for  cake  or  biscuits,  only  instead  of 
being  white  or  yellow  it  is  of  a  dark 
gray  color.  A  hard,  smooth  mold  ex- 
actly the  size  and  shape  of  the  inside 
of  the  plate  is  at  hand.  Over  this  the 
workman  claps  the  flat  piece  of  damp 
clay.  Then  the  mold  is  passed  on  to 
another  workman,  who  stands  before 
a  rapidly  revolving  pedestal,  common- 
ly known  as  the  potter's  wheel.  On 
this  wheel  he  places  the  mold  and  its 
layer  of  clay.  He  then  pulls  down  a 
lever    to    which    is    attached    a    steel 


.Molding  sugar  bowls  and  covered  dislics. 

scraper.  As  the  plate  rapidly  revolves, 
this  scraper  cuts  away  the  surplus  clay, 
and  gives  to  the  back  of  the  plate  its 
proper  form.  The  plate,  still  in  its 
mold,   is  placed  on  a  long  board,   to- 


406 


HOW   CHINA   IS   DECORATED 


^ethcr  with  a  nunihcr  of  others,  and 
shoved  into  a  rack  to  dry.  One  work- 
man with  two  helpers  will  make  2,400 
platfs  i«cr  day.  It  is  fascinating  to 
watch  the  niolders'  deft  hands  at  work 
>wiftly  chans^ing  a  mass  of  clay  into 
licrfec'tly  formed  dishes.  Such  skilled 
workmen  are  naturally  well  paid. 


L 


Interior  of  a  kiln  showing  how  the  "saggers" 
are  packed  for  firing. 

When  the  clay  is  sufficiently  dry,  the 
plate  is  taken  from  its  mold,  the  edge 
smoothed  and  rounded,  and  any  minor 
defects  remedied.  It  is  then  placed  in 
an  oval  shaped  clay  receptacle  called,  a 
"sagger,"  together  with  about  two 
dozen  of  its  fellows,  packed  in  fine 
sand,  and  placed  in  one  of  the  furnaces 
or  kilns.  Each  kiln  will  contain-. on  an 
average  two  thousand  saggers.  When 
the  kiln  is  full  the  doorway  is  closed 
and  plastered  with  clay,  the  fires 
started,  and  the  dishes  subjected  to  ter- 
rific heat  for  a  period  of  forty-eight 
hours.  The  fuel  used  is  natural  gas. 
piped  one  hundred  miles  from  wells 
2.000  feet  deep.  Natural  gas  gives  an 
intense  heat,  and  yet  is  always  under 
perfect  control — features  which  are 
vital  in  producing  uniformly  good 
china. 

When  the  plate  is  taken  from  the  kiln 
after  the  first  baking,  it  is  pure  white, 


l)ut  of  dull,  velvety  texture,  and  is 
known  as  bisque  ware. 

In  order  to  give  it  a  smooth,  high 
finish,  the  plate  is  next  dipped  into  a 
solution  of  white  lead,  borax  and  silica, 
dried,  placed  in  a  kiln  and  again  baked. 
W  hen  it  is  taken  out  for  the  second 
time  it  has  acquired  that  beautiful 
glaze  wdiich  so  delights  the  eye.  In 
this  condition  it  is  known  as  "plain 
white  ware,"  and  is  finished,  unless 
some  decoration  is  to  be  added. 

Most  peo[)le  are  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  gold  which 
adorns  dishes  is  ]>ut  on  by  a  simple 
rubber  stamp.  Two  preparations  of 
gold  are  used.  One  is  a  commercial 
solution  called  "liquid  bright  igold,"  the 
other  is  very  expensive,  and  is  simply 


Taking  the  di.-hes  from  a  kiln. 

gold  bullion  melted  down  with  acids  to 
the  right  consistency. 

Decorating  in  colors  is  now  done  al- 
most exclusively  by  decalcomania  art 
transfers.  These  are  made  princii)ally 
in  Europe. 

After  the  gold  and  colors  are  ap- 
plied, the  China  must  again  go  through 
the  oven's  heat  for  a  period  of  twelve 
hours.  Then  the  piece  finished  at  last, 
is  ready  to  grace  your  table.  The  dull 
grav  clay  has  become  beautifully  fin- 
ished china,  which  will  delight  alike  the 
housekeeper  and  her  guests. 


How  Do  Birds  Find  Their  Way? 

The  most  interesting  phase  of  the 
movement  of  animals  from  place  to 
place  is  found  in  the  flight  of  birds 
during  the  spring  and  fall.  In  the 
spring  the  birds  come  north  and  in  the 
fall  they  go  south.  This  is  called  "mi- 
gration" and  the  reason  given  for  the 
ability  of  some  birds  to  come  back 
every  year  to  build  a  nest  in  the  same 
ttee  is  usually  attributed  to  the  "in- 
stinct of  migration,"  and  yet  that  is 
more  a  statement  of  fact  rather  than 
an  explanation  of  the  wonderful 
ability  of  the  birds  to  do  this. 

How   Does   a    Captain    Steer   His   Ship 
Across   the    Ocean  ? 

Man,  the  most  intelligent  animal, 
can  also  find  his  way  about,  but  he 
has  had  to  learn  to  do  this  step  by 
step.  When  an  explorer  first  travels 
into  the  unexplored  forest,  he  carries  a 
compass  which  tells  him  in  what  di- 
rection he  is  traveling,  but  this  is  not 
suiftcient  to  tell  him  the  exact  path  he 
came  and  return  the  same  way.  In 
order  that  he  may  do  this,  he  must 
make  marks  on  the  trees  and  other 
objects  to  find  his  way  back.  When 
these  marks  are  once  made,  other  men 
can  follow  the  path  by  their  aid,  and 
eventually  a  path  becomes  worn  so 
that  men  can  find  their  way  back  and 
forth  without  the  aid  of  the  marks 
especially. 

A  trained  ship  captain  can  take  his 
ship  from  any  port  in  the  world  to  an- 
other port.  He  can  start  at  New  York 
City  and  in  a  given  number  of  days, 
according  to  how  fast  his  ship  can 
travel,  land  his  passengers  and  cargo  in 
the  port  of  London  or  Johannesburg, 
South  Africa,  or  at  any  desired  port  in 
China,  Jaj)an  or  any  other  country. 
But  he  cannot  do  this  by  any  kind  of 
instinct.  He  takes  his  directions  from 
information  that  was  furnished  him 
by  some  one  who  went  that  way  before 
him — some  other  captain  of  a  vessel 
who  made  marks  in  his  borjk  of  his 
position  in  relation  to  the  sun  and 
stars,  'i'his  is  i)ractically  the  same  as 
the    traveler    in    the    forest    who    raadc 


marks  on  the  trees  to  make  a  map  of 
the  way  back  and  forth.  Even  with 
these  charts,  compasses  and  other 
guiding  marks,  however,  man,  even 
though  he  is  the  most  intelligent  of  all 
the  animals,  makes  very  grave  mis- 
takes and  sometimes  brings  disaster 
upon  himself  and  the  lives  in  his  care. 

Why  the  Birds  Come  Back  in  Spring? 

The  birds,  however,  have  no  charts 
or  compasses  to  guide  them.  We  do 
not  know  as  yet  absolutely  what  it  is 
that  enables  the  bird  to  find  its  way 
back  and  forth  to  the  same  spot  year 
after  year.  As  nearly  as  we  have  been 
able  to  ascertain,  the  birds  after  they 
mate  and  build  their  first  nest  and 
bring  up  their  first  family,  develop  a 
fondness  for  that  particular  spot 
which  is  much  the  same  as  the  instinct 
in  man  which  we  call  the  "homing  in- 
stinct." Man  becomes  attached  to  one 
particular  spot  which  he  calls  home 
and  wherever  he  is  thereafter,  he  is 
very  likely  to  think  of  the  old  locality 
when  he  thinks  of  home,  and  there  are 
very  few  of  us  but  have  yearnings  to 
go  back  to  the  old  "home  locality" 
every  now  and  then.  The  environment 
in  which  a  bird  or  human  being  is 
brought  up  generally  becomes  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent  a  permanent 
jxirt  of  him  in  this  sense. 

Why  Do  Birds  Go  South  in  Winter  ? 

We  know  why  birds  go  south  in  the 
winter.  The  necessity  of  finding  food 
to  live  upon  has  everything  to  do  with 
that.  As  food  grows  scarce'  towards 
the  end  of  summer  in  the  farthest 
northern  places  where  birds  live,  the 
birds  there  must  find  food  elsewhere, 
'i'hey  naturally  turn  south  and  when 
they  find  food,  they  have  to  divide 
with  the  birds  living  there.  The  re- 
sult is  that  soon  the  food  becomes 
scarce  again  and  both  the  new-comers 
and  the  old  residents,  so  to  speak,  arc 
forced  to  seek  places  where  food  is 
plentiful.  So  both  of  these  flocks,  to 
use  a  short  term,  fly  away  to  the  south 
until  they  find  food  again  and  en- 
cfiunter  a   third   l1ork  or  group  of   tlic 


408 


WHY  BIRDS   SING 


bird  family  crowding  the  locality  and 
exhausting  the  food  supply.  So  in  turn 
each  flock  presses  for  food  upon  the 
one  in  the  locality  next  further  to  the 
south  until  we  have  a  general  move- 
ment tn  the  south  of  practically  all 
the  birds  until  they  reach  a  point 
where  the  food  sup])ly  is  sufiticient  for 
all   for  the  time  being. 

Why  Don't  the  Birds  Stay  South? 

The  result  of  all  this  is  that  the 
south-land  is  crowded  with  birds  of  all 
kinds  and  the  food  supply  is  enough 
for  all.  But  soon  in  following  the 
laws  of  nature  in  birds,  as  in  other 
living  things,  comes  the  time  for 
breeding.  The  south-land  is  warm 
enough  for  nesting  and  hatching,  but 
it  is  so  crowded  that  there  wouldn't 
Le  enough  food  for  all  the  old  birds 
and  the  little  ones  too  and  so  the  birds 
begin  to  scatter  again.  Just  think  of 
what  would  happen  in  the  south-land  if 
all  the  birds  that  stay  there  in  the  win- 
ter built  their  nests  there  and  brought 
up  a  new  family.  A  bird  family  will 
average  four  young  birds,  so  that  if 
all  the  bird  families  were  born  and 
raised  in  the  south  the  bird  population 
would  quickly  multiply  itself  by  three 
and  there  would  be  the  same  old  ne- 
cessity of  traveling  away  to  look  for 
food.  To  avoid  this  the  birds  begin 
to  scatter  to  their  old  homes  before 
the  breeding  season  begins. 

How  Do  They  Find  the  Old  Home? 

The  return  of  the  birds  to  their  old 
homes  and  how  they  find  their  way 
back  to  the  same  spot  every  year,  to 
do  which  they  must  sometimes  travel 
thousands  of  miles,  is  one  of  the  most 
marvelous  things  in  nature  and  has 
not  as  yet  been  satisfactorily  deter- 
mined. The  nearest  approach  we  have 
to  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  is  that 
birds  do  have  a  memory,  that  they  can 
and  do  recognize  familiar  objects,  and 
that  their  love  for  the  old  home  causes 
them  to  fly  to  the  north  until  they 
recognize  the  landmarks  of  their 
former  habitation.  In  this  it  is  said 
that  the  older  birds — those  who  have 


gone  that  way  before — lead  the  flocks 
and  show  the  way. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  birds  have  a 
more  perfect  instinct  of  direction  than 
man.  They  can  follow  a  line  of  longi- 
tude almost  perfectly,  i.e.,  ihey  can 
l)ick  out  the  shorter  Mv.te  by  instinct, 
and  this  is,  of  course,  a  straight  line. 
'J'hey  just  keep  on  going  until  they 
come  to  the  familiar  place  they  call 
b.ome  and  then  they  stop  and  build 
their  nests.  That  it  is  not  memory 
and  sight  of  places  alone  that  guides 
the  birds  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
some  birds  when  migrating  fly  all 
night  wdien  there  is  no  light  by  which 
to  recognize  familiar  objects. 

Why  Do  Birds  Sing? 

The  song  of  the  birds  is  a  part  of 
the  love-makjng.  The  male  bird  is 
the  "singer,"  as  we  call  them  at  home, 
when  we  think  of  the  canary  in  the 
cage  near  us.  The  male  bird  sings 
to  his  mate  to  charm  her  and  to  fur- 
ther his  wooing.  This  wooing  goes 
on  after  the  eggs  have  been  laid  in 
the  nest  and  while  the  mother  bird 
is  keeping  them  warm  until  they  hatch 
out,  but  almost  instantaneously  with 
the  birth  of  the  little  birds,  the  song 
of  the  male  bird  is  hushed.  Take  the 
case  of  the  nightingale.  For  weeks 
during  the  period  of  nest-building  and 
hatching  he  charms  his  mate  and  us 
with  the  beautiful  music  of  his  love 
song.  But  as  soon  as  the  little 
nightingales  come  from  the  eggs,  the 
sounds  which  the  male  nightingale 
makes  are  changed  to  a  gutteral  croak, 
which  are  expressive  of  anxiety  and 
alarm,  in  great  contrast  to  the  song 
notes  of  his  wooing.  And  yet,  if  you 
were  at  this  period — just  after  the 
birds  are  born,  and  when  his  song 
changes — to  destroy  the  nest  and  con- 
tents, you  would  at  once  find  Mr. 
Nightingale  return  to  his  beautiful 
song  of  love  to  inspire  his  mate  to  help 
him  build  another  nest  and  start  all 
over  again  to  raise  a   family. 

What  Causes  an  Arrow  to  Fly? 

It  is  caused  by  the  power  generated 
when  you  bend  the  bow  and  string  of 


WHAT  MAKES  SNOWFLAKES   WHITE 


409 


the  bow  and  arrow  out  of  shape.  The 
bow  and  string  have  the  quahty  of 
elasticity  which  causes  a  rubber  ball 
to  bounce.  When  you  force  anything 
elastic  out  of  shape,  this  quahty  in  it 
makes  it  try  to  get  back  to  its  natural 
shape  quickly.  In  doing  this  it  acts 
in  the  direction  which  will  take  it  back 
to  its  normal  shape  most  quickly.  The 
arrow  is  fixed  on  the  string  in  a  way 
that  will  not  interfere  with  the  bow 
and  string  getting  back  to  its  shape 
and,  when  they  bounce  back,  the  ar- 
row goes  with  it.  The  real  cause  for 
the  arrow's  flight,  however,  comes  not 
from  the  bow,  because  the  bow  cannot 
put  itself  out  of  shape,  but  comes 
from  the  person  who  causes  it  to  be 
out  of  shape  and,  therefore,  the  per- 
son who  pulls  the  string  back  really 
causes  the  arrow  to  fly. 


Why  Do  Children  Like  Candy? 

Children  crave  candy  because  the 
sugar  which  it  contains  largely  is  in 
such  a  condition  that  it  is  the  most 
suited  of  all  our  foods  for  quick  use 
by  the  body.  It  is  actually  turned  in- 
tri  real  energy  within  a  few  minutes 
after  it  is  eaten. 

All  the  things  we  eat  are  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  energy  to  our 
bodies  to  replace  the  energy  that  our 
daily  activities  have  dissipated.  Nature 
takes  the  valuable  parts  of  the  foods 
we  eat  and  changes  them  into  energy. 
The  waste  parts  she  throws  off.  Many 
things  we  eat  have  little  real  value  as 
food  and  many  also  nature  has  to 
work  upon  a  long  time  before  their 
food  value  is  available  in  energy. 
Sugar,  however,  represents  almost  en- 
ergy  itself. 

Children  are,  of  course,  more  active 
than  grown-ups.  They  are  never  still. 
They  are,  therefore,  almost  always 
burning  up  or  using  up  their  energy. 
They  arc  also,  therefore,  almost  al- 
ways in  need  of  food  that  can  be  made 
into  energy,  and  as  sugar  docs  this  al- 
most more  quickly  than  any  other  food, 
nature  teaches  the  children  to  like 
candy  or  sweets. 


Why   Does   Eating   Candy  Make   Some 
People  Fat? 

Eating  as  much  as  one  can  of  any- 
thing at  any  time  will  produce  fat, 
provided  you  do  not  do  sufficient 
physical  work  or  take  enough  exercise 
to  counteract  the  effect  of  generous 
eating.  When  you  see  a  person  who 
eats  a  great  deal  and  is  growing  fat, 
you  may  know  that  he  or  she  is  not 
taking  sufficient  bodily  exercise  to 
work  off  the  energy  produced  by  the 
body  from  the  food  that  has  been 
eaten.  When  this  happens  the  energy 
in  the  form  of  fat  piles  up  in  various 
parts  of  the  system.  Candy  will  do 
this  more  quickly  than  any  other  thing 
we  eat  because  it  contains  so  much 
sugar  and  because  sugar  is  so  easily 
changed  by  our  system  into  usable  en- 
ergy. You  generally  find  a  fat  person 
who  eats  much  candy  to  be  a  lazy 
person. 


What  Makes  Snowflakes  White? 

A  snowflake  is,  as  you  are  no  doubt 
aware,  made  of  water  affected  in  such 
a  way  by  the  temperature  as  to  change 
it  into  'a  crystal.  Water,  of  course,  as 
you  know,  is  perfectly  transparent.  In 
other  words,  sunlight  or  other  light 
will  pass  through  water  without  being 
reflected.  A  single  snowflake  also  is 
partially  transparent,  i.e.,  the  light  will 
go  through  it  partially,  although  some 
of  it  will  be  reflected  back.  When  a 
drop  of  water  is  turned  into  a  snow- 
flake  crystal,  a  great  many  reflecting 
surfaces  are  produced,  and  the  white- 
ness of  the  snowflake  is  the  result  of 
practically  all  of  the  sunlight  which 
strikes  it  being  reflected  back,  just  as  a 
mirror  reflects  practically  all  the  light 
or  color  that  is  thrown  against  it.  If 
you  turn  a  green  light  on  the  snow,  it 
will  reflect  the  green  light  in  the  same 
way.  When  the  countless  snow 
crystals  lie  on  the  ground  close  to- 
gether, the  ability  to  reflect  the  light 
is  increased  and  so  a  mass  of  snow 
crystals  on  the  gnnuui  look  even 
whiter  than  one  single  snowflake. 


410 


THE  USES   OF   PAINS   AND   ACHES 


What   Makes   the   White   Caps   on   the 
Waves  White? 

In  telling  why  the  snowflake  is 
white  we  have  ])ractically  already  an- 
swered this  (|ucstion  also.  Instead  of 
little  crystals  formed  from  the  water, 
the  foam  produced  by  the  waves  of 
the  ocean  are  tiny  bubbles  which  have 
tlie  same  ability  to  reflect  the  light  as 
the  snow  crystals. 

What  Good  Can  Come  of  a  Toothache? 

Very  few  of  us  realize  that  an  ach- 
iiig  tooth  is  a  good  thing  for  us,  pro- 
viiled  we  have  it  attended  to  and  the 
ache  removed.  Any  one  who  has  had 
toothache  will  hardly  agree  that  there 
can  be  a  blessing  attached  to  this  ex- 
cruciating pain. 

But  the  good  comes  from  the  warn- 
ing it  gives  us  of  the  condition  of  our 
teeth  on  the  inside  of  our  mouths.  The 
arrangement  of  the  interior  of  the 
mouth  and  the  use  we  make  of  it  in 
passing  things  into  our  systems,  favors 
very  much  the  development  and  in- 
crease of  microbes,  and  when  they 
once  get  in  they  are  difficult  to  re- 
move. It  is  said  that  the  greatest  per- 
centage of  cases  of  stomach  trouble 
come  from  teeth  which  are  in  bad  con- 
dition and  that  a  very  large  percentage 
of  people  who  have  bad  teeth  are  in 
grave  danger  oT  blood  poisoning  or 
other  troubles  due  to  the  microbes. 
When  these  microbes  lodge  in  the 
mouth,  they  find  conditions  favorable 
to  their  development  when  there  are 
bad  teeth,  and  spread  through  the  sys- 
tem. 

How  Can  Microbes  Spread  Through  the 
Body? 

The  various  parts  of  the  body,  in- 
cluding the  gums,  are  connected  by  a 
lymphatic  tissue,  which  is  practically 
a  series  of  canals.  If  the  teeth  are  not 
properly  attended  to  ?nd  kept  in  good 
condition,  both  as  to  cleanliness  and  re- 
pair, the  microbes  or  germs  collect  on 
the  gums  and  teeth,  and  increase  in 
numbers.  Soon  the  mouth  is  over- 
populated  with  microbes  and  are 
jmshed  oiT  the  gimis  or  teeth  into  the 
lymphatic   canals,   wdiere  they   succeed 


in  developing  a  disease  in  your  body. 
Now  the  ache  in  the  tooth  becomes 
a  blessing  very  promptly  if  it  begins 
soon  after  the  tooth  begins  to  decay, 
because  in  that  event  the  dentist  is 
visited  and  the  tooth  filled  or  j^ulled. 
Therefore,  while  it  hurts  terriljly,  it 
niight  be  well  to  remember  that  a 
toothache  is  a  timely  warning  of  dan- 
ger which,  if  not  heeded,  will  likely 
(ievelop  into  something  quite  serious. 

What  Causes  Toothache? 

The  ache  comes  when  the  tiny  nerve 
at  the  heart  of  the  toota  is  exposed  to 
the  air.  When  the  tooth  begins  to  de- 
cay, it  starts  to  dc  so  generally  from 
the  outside,  and  after  the  decaying 
process  has  gone  far  enough,  it 
reaches  the  nerve  in  the  tooth,  which 
aches  when  exposed  to  the  air.  The 
ache  is  the  signal  w^hich  the  nerve 
sends  to  the  brain  that  there  is  an  ex- 
posure and  a  cry  for  help. 

Of  What  Use  Are  Pains  and  Aches  ? 

All  pains  and  aches  are  helpful  in 
sounding  a  warning.  A  headache  may 
be  the  result  of  improper  sleep  and 
rest  and,  therefore,  warns  us  to  take 
the  needed  rest  or  sleep.  A  pain  in 
the  stomach  is  only  nature's  way  of 
telling  us  that  we  have  been  unwise 
in  our  eating  and  drinking.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,  short  though  our  lives  are, 
they  would  probably  be  still  shorter, 
on  the  average,  if  it  were  not  for  pains 
and  aches,  because  without  these 
warnings  w^e  would  never  have  sense 
enough  to  stop  doing  the  things  we 
should  not  do  if  we  lived  normally. 

What  Causes  Earache? 

Earache  is  caused  by  the  nerves  in 
the  ear  being  affected  by  something 
either  from  within  or  without  which 
produces  a  swelling  of  the  parts  im- 
mediately adjacent  to  the  nerves  in  the 
ear,  and  which  press  against  the 
nerves ;  as  the  nerves  cannot  go  any 
place  else  they  send  a  warning  to  the 
brain  that  they  are  being  crowded  and 
pressed  against.  The  ])ain  you  feel  is 
the  nerve  in  the  ear  warning  the  brain 
that  something  is  wrong  in  the  ear. 


What  Is  Soap  Made  Of? 

Soap  is  not  a  ver)-  modern  product, 
although  we  have  rarely  read  of  soap 
in  olden  times.  As  long  ago  as  two 
thousand  years,  the  Germans  had  an 
ointment  which  was  made  in  practically 
the  same  way  as  we  now  make  soap. 
A  soap  factory  was  engaged  in  making 
soap  in  France  in  1000  A.  D. 

Even  before  soap  was  manufactured, 
people  knew  that  that  ashes  of  some 
plants,  when  mixed  with  water,  gave 
it  a  peculiar,  smooth,  slippery  feeling, 
and  added  to  the  cleansing  qualities  of 
water.  Although  they  did  not  know 
it,  this  was  due  to  the  soda  of  potash 
which  was  in  the  ashes.  Pure  soda  and 
potash  both  have  excellent  qualities  for 
cleaning,  but  are  likely  to  injure  the 
skin,  and  other  things  coming  in  con- 
tact with  them. 

Soap  is  made  by  boiling  together  oil 
or  fat  and  "caustic"  soda  or  potash. 
Caustic  soda  is  a  substance  made  from 
sodium  carbonate  by  adding  slaked  lime 
to  a  solution  of  it.  The  slaked  lime  con- 
tains calcium  in  combination  with  hy- 
drogen and  oxygen,  and  is  known  in 
chemistry  as  calcium  hydrate.  When 
calcium  hydrate  is  added  to  a  solution 
of  sodium  carbonate,  the  sodium  pres- 
ent combines  with  the  oxygen  and  hy- 
drogen to  form  a  compound,  variously 
called  sodium  hydrate,  sodium  hydrox- 
ide, or  caustic  soda.  A  similar  com- 
pound of  potassium  is  formed  when  the 
same  kind  of  lime  is  mixed  in  a  solution 
of  potassium  carbonate.  In  both  cases 
the  calcium  is  converted  into  calcium 
carbonate,  which  is  not  soluble  in  water 
and  settles  to  the  bottom ;  but  the  caus- 
tic soda  or  potash  is  dissolved. 

The  word  "caustic"  means  to  burn, 
lioth  will  burn  the  skin  if  allowed  to 
touch  the  skin  for  a  short  time. 

The  fats  used  for  making  soap  con- 
sist of  glycerine,  in  chemical  combina- 
tion with  what  are  called  fatty  acids. 
When  these  fats  are  boiled  with  caus- 
tic soda,  or  caustic  ])otash,  the  fat  is 
decomposed ;  the  fatty  acid  combines 
with  the  soflium  or  j)Otassium  to  form 
soa[)  and  the  glycerine  is  left  uncom- 
bined. 


In  modern  soap  factories  the  manu- 
facture is  carried  on  in  large  iron  ves- 
sels. Some  fat  and  oil  are  put  into  the 
vessel  and  a  little  lye,  which  is  really 
caustic  soda  or  potash,  is  added  and 
the  mixture  boiled.  The  fat  and  the 
lye  combine  very  quickly  and  form  a 
whitish  fluid.  More  lye  is  now  added 
and  the  boiling  continued.  This  process 
is  repeated  until  nearly  all  the  oil  or  fat 
has  combined  with  the  lye.  If  yellow 
laundry  soap  is  being  made,  some  rosin 
is  put  in,  and  this  gives  the  yellow 
color.  If  toilet  soap  is  being  made, 
common  salt  it  put  in  instead  of  rosin. 
The  addition  of  the  salt  has  the  effect 
of  separating  the  water  and  the  gly- 
cerine from  the  soap.  The  soap  rises 
to  the  surface  and  is  skimmed  off.  As 
soon  as  the  separation  is  complete,  and 
the  soap  is  then  cut  or  pressed  into 
cakes  afer  it  has  become  hard. 

Soaps  referred  to  above  are  the  ordi- 
nary hard  soaps.  In  making  soft  soaps  no 
salt  is  added  to  separate  the  soap  from 
the  liquid.  As  the  water  and  glycerine  do 
not  separate  from  the  soap,  the  entire 
mixture  remains  of  a  soft  consistency. 
Soft  soap  is  also  made  with  a  lye,  that  is 
obtained  from  wood  ashes.  The  ashes 
are  placed  in  barrels  and  water  poured 
upon  them.  The  water  drips  down 
through  the  ashes  in  the  barrel  and 
dissolves  the  potash  contained  in  them, 
making  lye  or  caustic  potash.  This  lye 
is  then  in  liquid  form  and  is  mixed  and 
boiled  with  grease  or  fat  to  make  soap. 

There  are  many  different  fats  used 
in  soap  making.  Palm  oil  is  perhai:)s 
the  most  common,  but  tallow,  olive  oil, 
cotton  seed  oil,  and  many  other  fats 
are  used.  The  hardness  of  the  soap 
varies  with  the  kind  of  fat  and  lye 
used.  Palm  oil  or  tallow  soap  is  very 
hard,  and  other  oils  are  sometimes 
mixed  with  it  to  soften  it. 

These  are  the  main  facts  connected 
with  the  making  of  soaps.  1'liere  may 
appear  to  be  dilTercnt  kinds  all  of  which 
look  and  smell  dilTi'iintly.  The  differ- 
ence in  them  is  largely  due  to  the  pres- 
ence of  different  perfumes  and  coloring 
matters. 


412 


HOW   MEN   LEARNED  TO  SEND   MESSAGES 


INDIAN    sE.NUINO   MlisbAtjE    WITH   SMOKE    SIGNALS. 

The:^HK^  Indians  found  their  system  of  smoke  signals  quite  effective  in  sending  messages 
from  place  to  place.  With  a  good  burning  fire  before  him,  and  a  blanket  or  shield  at  hand, 
the  Indian  was  equipped  to  send  his  messages.  The  code  consisted  of  the  varying  kinds  of  smoke 
clouds  produced.  These  were  made  large  or  small  by  covering  the  fire  at  intervals  with  the 
blanket  or  shield,  thus  making  interruptions  of  various  lengths  in  the  rising  clouds  of  smoke. 
By  dropping  moss  or  other  things  into  the  fire,  he  made  the  smoke  clouds  either  light  or  dark 
at  will. 


eo  u^  k  f cy 


(pRCiS 


The  Story  in  a  Telegram 


How  Man  Learned  to  Send  Messages. 

From  the  time  when  man  had  learned 
to  protect  himself  from  the  beasts  of 
the  forest,  and  thus  was  able  to  move 
about  more  freely,  and  live  by  himself 
rather  than  remain  with  the  tribe, 
he  has  found  it  necessary  to  send 
messages. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the 
early  methods  for  sending  messages 
was  the  Indian  way  of  smoke  signal- 
ling with  the  simple  equipment  of 
a  fire  mth  its  rising  column  of  smoke 
and  a  blanket  or  shield.  Messages 
were  sent,  relayed,  received  and  an- 
swered, at  points  hundreds  of  miles 
apart.  Among  savages  still  found  in 
remote  parts  of  the  earth  this  and 
other  primitive  methods  are  still  in 
use.  In  the  wilds  of  Africa  to-day 
at  points  where  the  electric  telegraph 
service  has  not  yet  penetrated,  the 
natives  by  the  simple  method  of  beat- 


ing drums,  which  can  be  heard  from 
one  relay  point  to  another,  are  able 
to  send  the  "  news  of  the  day  "  across 
the  country  with  marvellous  rapidity. 
In  some  parts  of  South  America,  the 
natives  long  ago  discovered  that  the 
ground  is  a  good  conductor  of  sound 
and  send  their  messages  almost  at 
will,  making  their  signals  by  tapping 
against  poles  which  thcy  have  planted 
in  the  ground  at  various  points  and 
which  constitute  both  their  sending 
and  receiving  instruments. 

The  Signal  Corps  in  the  army  u.ses 
flags  for  sending  messages,  where  the 
telegraph  is  not  available,  the  flags 
being  of  diflfcrent  colors,  and  the  signals 
are  produced  by  waving  the  flags  in 
diflerent  ways.  The  army  heliograph 
is  also  used  as  a  telegraph  line — a 
mirror  which  reflects  the  sun's  rays 
in  a  manner  understood  by  a  pre- 
arranged code.     These  and  other  sim- 


THE  FIRST   MESSENGER   BOY 


413 


THE    OKEEK    RUN'XEK. 


In  this  picture  we  see  the  Greek  Runner  on  the  last  leg  of  his  journey  and  the  man  to  whom 
he  is  to  deliver  the  message  waiting  for  him.  This  method  of  sending  messages  was  not  very 
fast,  although  the  runners  were  picked  because  of  their  speed  and  endurance. 


Here  we  see  the  fast  riders  of  the  I'oiiy  'I'elcj^raph,  which  increased  the  speed  of  delivering 
messages  quite  a  good  deal,  but,  of  course,  there  was  danger  of  losing  tlie  message  to  enemies 
or  through  accident,  so  that  it  might  be  difficult  under  such  circumstances  to  send  u  secret 
message  or  to  even  be  certain  that  it  would  arrive  at  destination. 


414  IT   IS   EASY   TO  CALL  A  TELEGRAPH    MESSENGER 


ilar  methods  are  merely  elaborations 
of  devices  developed  and  used  by  the 
savages  as  a  solution  of  the  ever 
present  need  of  sending  a  message  to 
some  other  point. 

The  great  Marathon  runner  was 
nothing  more  or  less  than  a  telcgra]jh 
messenger  hastening  with  his  written 
message,  from  the  man  who  delivered 
it  to  him,  to  its  destination,  and  his 
work  was  harder  than  that  of  the 
messenger  boy  to-day,  for  he  not 
only  had  to  deliver  the  message  him- 
self to  its  destination,  but  had  to  run 
fast  all  the  way  or  lose  his  job. 

The  messenger  on  foot  finally  gave 
way  to  the  Pony  Telegraph,  which 
not  only  shortened  the  time  necessary 
to  deliver  a  message,  but  marked 
the  beginmng  of  a  system. 

How  Does  a  Telep-am  Get  There? 

The  ne.xt  time  \-our  daddy  takes  you 
down  to  the  office,  ask  him  to  show 
you  the  telegraph  call  box.  When 
you  see  it,  you  will  perhaps  not  think 
that  by  merely  pulling  down  the  little 
lever  you  can  so  start  things  going  that, 
if  you  wish,  you  can  cause  men  who 
are  on  the  other  side  of  the  earth  to 


RINGING  THE  CALL    BOX. 


MESSENGER    UOVS    WITH    BICYCLES    W.MTING    THE   (  All, 


« 

^  i? 

^   :  1    1 

Here  we  see  the  messenger  calling  at  the  office  from  which  the  call  box  registered  a  call  and 
receiving  the  telegram  to  be  taken  by  him  to  the  central  office  to  be  put  on  the  wire. 


work  for  you  in  a  few  minutes,  and 
to  make  little  instruments  all  along 
the  way  which,  with  their  other  equip- 
ment, have  cost  millions  of  dollars, 
click,  click,  click  at  your  will. 
Sooner  or  later  during  the  day  your 


father  will  be  wanting  to  send  a  tele- 
gram. He  steps  to  the  call  box, 
pulls  the  little  lever  and  goes  back 
to  his  desk.  In  a  few  minutes,  some- 
times before  you  realize  it,  the  little 
blue-coated    messenger     appears     and 


When  the  messenger  gets  back  to  llie  olliie,  lie  liands  the  message  to  the  receiving  clerk  who 
stamps  it,  showing  the  exact  time  received  and  sends  it  by  pneumatic  tube  to  the  operating  room. 


416      BEFORE  THE  TELEGRAPH   SERVICE   IS  POSSIBLE  AND 


says  "  Call?  "  Father  hands  him  a 
telegraph  blank  on  which  he  has  written 
the  message,  the  messenger  takes  off 
his  cap,  puts  the  message  inside  and 
the  cap  back  on  his  head  and  away 
he  goes  on  his  bicycle  as  fast  as  his 
legs  can  pedal,  to  the  central  office, 
to  which  point  you  follow  him  to  see 
what  he  does  with  the  message. 

If  you  had  been  at  the  telegraph 
office  instead  of  your  father's  office, 
you  would  have  seen  one  of  these  boys 
start  off  on  his  wheel  to  get  the  mes- 
sage your  father  wished  to  send .     When 


the  little  lever  on  the  call  box  is  pulled 
down,  it  is  pulled  back  by  a*  spring 
which  sets  some  clock  work  •  going 
which  sends  a  signal  over  the  wire  on 
a  circuit  which  runs  out  from  a  regis- 
ter at  the  main  office.  The  register 
has  a  paper  tape  running  through  it, 
and  the  signal  from  the  call  box 
appears  as  a  series  of  dots  on  the  tape. 
The  clerk  knows  from  the  number  and 
spacing  of  the  dots  that  it  was  your 
father  that  called  and  not  some  other 
business  man  whose  box  might  be 
on  the  same  circuit. 


We  have  now  followed  the  telegram  to  the 
point  where  it  is  to  start  on  its  real  journe}'. 
Here  we  see  the  operator  preparing  to  send 
the  message.  He  first  must  "  get  the  wire." 
By  this  is  meant  to  get  a  through  connection 
to  the  town  where  the  message  is  to  be  de- 
livered. Each  office  along  the  line  has  a 
signal.  The  other  operators  can  hear  the  call, 
but  since  it  is  not  their  signal,  they  pay  no 
attention.  Almost  immediately,  however,  the 
operator  at  the  delivery  point  hears  the  signal 
He  signals  back  "II"  and  repeats  his  own 
office  call,  which  means  "  I  hear  you  and  am 
ready."  The  message  is  then  ticked  off, 
until  finished  and  the  operator  at  the  delivery 
point  signals  "  O.  K.,"  together  with  his 
personal  signal,  which  means  he  has  received 
the  whole  message  and  has  it  down  on  paper. 


Here  we  see  the  operator  at  the  delivery 
office.  She  has  translated  the  dots  and  dashes 
as  they  came  to  her  over  the  wire  into  plain 
words  on  a  regular  telegraph  blank,  putting 
down  the  time  received,  the  amount  to  be 
collected,  if  it  is  a  "  collect  "  message,  or 
marking  it  "  Paid  "  if  it  was  so  sent.  She 
has  handed  it  to  one  of  the  blue-clad  messengers 
in  her  office  who  starts  off  at  once  to  deliver 
it.  The  operator  has  also  made  a  copy  of 
the  message  for  the  office  files. 


THE  TELEGRAM   ARRIVES  AT  DESTINATION 


417 


Here  we  see  the  messenger  delivering  the  telegram  to  the  person  to  whom  it  is  addressed. 
It  may  be  good  news  or  bad  new^s  for  the  person  receiving  it,  but  it  is  all  in  the  day's  work  for 
the  messenger  boy.  But  let  us  see  how  many  people  have  to  work  to  deliver  the  message.  We 
have  followed  it  through  from  the  original  call  box.  First  there  was  the  messenger  who  came 
for  it,  then  the  receiving  clerk,  the  sending  operator  and  the  operator  who  receives  it  and 
last  of  all  the  messenger  boy  who  delivered  it.  This  does  not  take  into  account  the  men  who 
must  look  after  the  many  miles  of  wires,  the  machinery  which  supplies  the  current,  or  the  great 
army  of  "^^"  '^h°  ^re  constantly  laying  new  wires  so  that  you  can  send  a  telegram  from  almost 
anywhere  to  any  other  place. 


The  Operators  you  have  seen  work- 
ing in  these  pictures  are  Morse  opera- 
tors. They  send  the  message  by  Morse 
Code  in  dots  and  dashes  which  are  sent 
over  the  wire  as  electric  impulses.  At 
the  other  end  the  message  is  read  by 
listening  to  the  clicks  the  sounder 
makes  as  it  receives  these  same  electric 
impulses.  This  is  the  simplest  way 
of  telegraphing. 

The  number  of  messages  sent  be- 
tween two  big  cities  in  a  day  is 
tremendous — ^many  more  than  cotild 
be  transmitted  over  one  Morse  wire. 
Many  wires  would  be  needed.  But 
wire  costs  money,  so  ingenious  men 
set  to  work  to  find  some  way  to  send 
more  than  one  message  over  a  single 
wire  at  the  same  time.  They  suc- 
ceeded. There  is  now  the  duplex 
telegraph,  which  sends  a  message  each 
way  simultaneously  over  a  single  wire, 
the  quadrujjlex,  which  sends  two  mes- 


sages each  way  simultaneously  over 
a  single  wire.  Last  but  not  least 
there  is  the  multiplex,  which  sends 
four  messages  each  way  simultaneously 
over  a  single  wire.  This  seems  almost 
unbelievable,  but  it  is  done.  In 
the  case  of  the  duplex  and  quad- 
ruplex,  the  different  messages  are 
sent  by  currents  of  different  strength, 
and  by  changing  the  direction  of  the 
current.  Receiving  instruments  are 
designed  so  as  to  separate  the  mes- 
sages by  being  affected  only  by  the 
currents  of  certain  strength  or  polarity, 
as  the  direction  of  flow  is  termed.  It 
can  easily  be  seen  that  by  these  ingen- 
ious devices,  the  telegraph  company 
saves  many  thousands  of  dollars  in 
the  miles  and  miles  of  wire,  and  hun- 
dreds of  telegraph  poles  which  would 
be  required  if  all  the  messages  had  to 
be  sent  over  a  simple  Morse  wire,  one 
message  only  upon  the  wire  at  a  time. 


V*-'        _jl«i?SW- 


In  this  picture  we  see  the  interior  of  fi  telegraph 
office  along  the  line  of  a  railroad.  The  operator 
has  her  hand  on  the  "  key  "  or  sending  instrument. 
At  her  left  in  a  stand  called  the  resonator,  is  the 
receiving  instrument  called  the  "  sounder  "  which 
icks  off  the  message.  In  front  of  her  is  an  instru- 
cnt  called  the  "  relay."  Current  from  two  of 
e  batteries  goes  through  the  key  when  it  is  pressed 
■iwn,  through  the  relay  and  out  on  to  the  wires 
I  the  pole  line,  then  through  the  relay  of  the 
I-  eiving  operator  at  the  other  end,  (see  picture 
!i  opposite  page)  through  'his  key  and  through  two 
•  '.re  batteries  to  the  ground.  The  earth  forms  the 
ixturn  wire  of  an  electric  circuit  when  both  keys  are 
"  closed  "  or  pressed  down.  You  know  all  electricity 
has  to  flow  in  a  closed  circuit.  The  "  sounder  " 
has  to  make  good  strong  clicks  to  be  understood, 
and  the  current  after  it  has  gone  through  miles  of 
wire  and  ground  may  not  be  strong  enough  so  the 
sounder  is  put  on  a  local  circuit  of  its  own,  with 
a  sjn  riril  battery.  [In  this  circuit  is  a  contact  maker 
v.hu  h  is  part  of  the  relay.  When  the  key  is 
fjresscd  aown  and  current  flows  over  the  wires  on 
the  poles  and  through  the  relays,  the  magnets  of  the 
relay  pull  on  a  little  piece  of  metal  called  the 
"  armature,"  which  makes  a  contact  and  closes''the 
local  sounder  circuit,  so  current  from  the  single 
local  battery  can  Pow  up  through  the  magnets 
of  the  sounder  and  back  to  the  battery.  This 
makes  the  sounder  click.  When  the  key  is  re- 
leased, the  relay  armature  is  pulled  back  by  a 
spring  and  breaks  the  circuit  of  sounder,  which 
then  em.its  another  click.  By  the  number  and 
duration  of  the  clicks  and  the  time  between 
them,  the  receiving  operator  knows  the  meaning 
of  the  signal.  The  Morse  Code,  which  is  used 
throughout  the  United  States,  is  shown  on  the  next 
page. 


SENDS  MESSAGES  THOUSANDS  OF  MILES  INSTANTANEOUSLY  419 


TvrORSE     TELEGRAPH        CODE 


TTers 

r^lor-s>e 

Mumercils 

A 



F 

gures 

r-iorse 

B 

_-.. 

1 

•  •— ^. 

C 

_.  . 

2 

..._.. 

D 

— -- 

e> 

..._-. 

E 

- 

^ 

....__ 

F 

..^. 

s 

«»  ^  — 

G 

^^. 

H 



"7 



"• 

S 

J 

—  -  — - 

9 

.^  ..  

K 

^  a^B 

L 

.^^ 

M 

^^ 

N 

^   , 

O 

,       . 

P 

O 



Pcjrictua 

tions 

3 

... 

. 

D.^.od 



T 



t 

Colo-^ 

_- . 

U 



; 

S>«rr..coloO 

V 

...    

Co^-'^o 

._.— . 

w 

. 

\ 

1  ^  r»  f-*-o^o  ♦  1  or^ 

—  -  -^■ 

X 



e.»clar»ic»*«o^ 

•^^^- 

Y 

.   .        .   . 

- 

T'-octtoo  Lir>« 

" 

420 


THE  INVENTOR  OF  THE  TELEGRAPH 


The  multiplex  telegraph  is  truly  a 
marvellous  invention.  It  has  been  de- 
veloped by  the  engineers  of  the  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Co.  working  with 
the  engineers  of  the  Western  Electric 
Company.  The  principle  on  which 
this  instrument  works  is  that  if  sepa- 
rate instrmnents  are  given  connection 
with  the  wire  one  after  the  other 
during  very  short  intervals  of  time, 
the  effect  is  as  though  the  wire  were 
split  up,  and  each  instrument  works 
just  as  if  it  alone  were  on  the  wire. 
Not  only  does  the  multiplex  telegraph 
thus  send  four  messages  in  one  direc- 
tion and  four  messages  in  the  opposite 
direction,  simvdtaneously  over  a  single 
wire,  thus  keeping  no  less  than  six- 
teen operators  employed  on  one  wire, 
four  sending  and  four  receiving  at 
each  end,  but  each  message  instead 
of  being  sent  by  the  ordinary  Morse 
key,  is  written  upon  a  typewriter 
keyboard  at  one  end  of  the  line  and 
appears  automatically  typewritten  at 
the  other  end. 

If  you  live  in  a  big  city,  go  into  one 
of  the  larger  branch  ofhces  of  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  and  ask 
to  see  printing  telegraph.  Most  of 
the  large  branch  offices  communicate 
with  the  general  operating  department 
in  the  cit}*  by  means  of  what  they 
term  "  short  line  printers,"  which  are 
instruments  on  which  the  message  is 
written  upon  a  typewriter  keyboard  and 
appears  typewritten  at  the  other  end. 


Who  Invented  the  Electric  Telegraph? 

It  is  hard  to  say  just  how  the  tele- 
graph originated  in  the  mind  of  men. 
We  have  already  shown  how  the  sav- 
ages sent  signals  over  distances  by 
means  of  the  smoke  rising  from  his 
fire.  Every  boy  and  girl  has  used  a 
little  mirror,  held  in  the  sun  to  flash 
a  bright  spot  here  and  there.  This 
principle  has  been  used  by  the  army 
to  signal  at  distances.  The  sun's 
rays  are  flashed  from  a  small  minor, 
long  and  short  flashes  indicating  the 
dashes  and  dots  of  the  Morse  tele- 
graph code. 

Progress   towards   the   perfection   of 


^^Hf^    /y ' 

'^^1 

Wk  ^' 

M 

^H 

m^ 

PROFESSOR   S.   F.    B.    MORSE, 
INVENTOR   OF   THE    TELEGRAPH. 

the  electric  telegraph  began  with  the 
first  researches  of  scientists  into  the 
natural  laws  which  govern  that  great 
natural  agent,  electricity.  Clever, 
painstaking  men,  stud^nng  and  experi- 
menting for  the  love  of  the  work,  dis- 
covered bit  by  bit  how  to  control  the 
force.  Stephen  Gray  with  his  Leyden 
jars,  which  stored  up  a  charge  of  elec- 
tricity, inspired  Sir  William  Watson 
to  experiment,  and  he  sent  current 
from  one  jar  to  another  two  miles 
away. 


The   First    Suggestion    of   the  Electric 
Telegraph. 

For  a  long  time  no  one  thought 
that  this  opened  the  way  for  the  mak- 
ing of  a  useful  servant  for  man.  In 
1753  this  thought  occurred  to  an  un- 
known man  in  Scotland,  who  wrote 
a  letter  to  a  newspaper  suggesting 
that  messages  be  sent  by  electric 
currents. 

One  of  his  schemes  was  that  there 
should  be  a  light  ball  at  the  receiving 
end   of   the   wire   which   would   strike 


MEN  WHO  INVENTED  TELEGRAPHS  ALMOST  SIMULTANEOUSLY  421 


a  bell  when  it  felt  the  electric  impulse 
come  over  the  wire  from  the  Leyden 
jar,  and  by  devising  a  code  depending 
upon  the  number  of  strokes  of  the  bell 
and  the  time  between  them,  he  sug- 
gested that  njessages  could  be  sent  and 
interpreted.  Some  believe  this  man 
to  have  been  a  doctor  named  Charles 
Morrison  of  Greenock,  Scotland.  Who- 
ever he  was,  he  suggested  a  method 
which  comes  very  near  to  being  that 
in  use  to-day. 

The  difficulty  with  proceeding  on 
this  suggestion  was  that  the  current 
from  the  Leyden  jar  was  static  elec- 
tricity, which  has  not  the  strength  nor 
can  it  be  controlled  as  can  the  cur- 
rent of  low  potential  which  is  used 
to-day.  Volta  discovered  this  new 
and  more  stable  form  of  electricity 
and  many  different  men  labored  in- 
vestigating what  could  be  accom- 
plished with  it.  The  names  of  Sir 
Humphry  Davy  and  Michael  Fara- 
day are  inseparably  connected  with 
this  advance.  It  was  Oersted's  and 
Faraday's  discovery  of  the  connection 
between  electricity  and  magnetism, 
and  how  an  electric  current  may  be 
made  to  magnetize  a  piece  of  iron 
at  will,  that  really  opened  the  way  for 
the  invention  of  the  telegraph  we  know 
to-day. 


The  First  Real  Telegraph. 

But  before  the  much  greater  prac- 
tical value  of  Volta's  current  was  dis- 
covered, one  man  developed  a  real 
telegraph  which  worked  with  electric- 
ity of  the  static  kind,  produced  by 
friction.  This  man  was  named  Sir 
Francis  Ronalds.  He  worked  along 
the  lines  laid  down  by  the  unknown 
Scotchman,  whom  we  have  supposed 
to  be  Charles  Morrison.  The  machine 
he  built  and  operated  in  his  garden 
at  Hammersmith  utilized  pith  balls, 
which  actuated  by  the  charge  of  static 
electricity  sent  along  the  wire  caused 
a  letter  to  appear  before  an  opening 
in  the  dial.  When  jjcrfectcd  he  offered 
it  to  the  British  Government,  who 
refused  it.  They  were  very  stupid 
in  their  refusal,  for  they   said   "  tele- 


graphs are  wholly  unnecessary."  Sir 
Francis  Ronalds'  invention  cost  him 
much  care,  anxiety  and  money.  He 
lived  to  see  the  more  practical  voltaic 
current  taken  up  by  others  and  put 
to  successful  use.  Being  unselfish  he 
rejoiced  that  others  should  succeed 
where  he  had  failed. 


Two  Men  who  Invented  our  Telegraph 
almost  Simultaneously. 

The  telegraph,  working  on  the  elec- 
tro-magnetic principle,  as  used  to-day, 
was  developed  almost  simultaneously 
on  the  two  sides  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
In  England  Sir  Charles  Wheatstone 
and  Sir  William  Fothergill  Cooke 
worked  out  a  practical  method  and 
instruments,  which  with  few  changes, 
are  in  use  to-day.  Cooke  was  a  doctor 
and  had  served  with  the  British  anny 
in  India.  Wheatstone  was  the  son  of 
a  Gloucester  musical  instrument  maker. 
The  latter  was  fond  of  science  and 
experimented  continually  with  elec- 
tricity and  wrote  about  it  and  other 
scientific  subjects.  As  a  result  of  his 
work  he  was  made  a  prof essor  at  King's 
College.  There  he  conducted  impor- 
tant researches  and  tests,  among  which 
was  one  which  measured  the  speed 
at  which  electricity  travels  along  a 
wire.  So  Cooke,  who  was  a  doctor 
and  a  good  business  man,  entered  into 
partnership  with  the  scientist  Wheat- 
stone, and  together  they  completed 
their  invention.  It  was  first  used  in 
1838  on  the  London  and  Blackwall 
Railway.  At  first  it  was  expensive 
and  cumbersome,  using  five  lines  of 
wire.  Later  this  number  was  reduced 
to  two,  and  in  1845,  an  instrument 
was  devised  which  required  but  one 
wire.  This  instrument,  with  a  few 
minor  changes,  is  the  one  in  use  to-day 
in  li)ngland. 

While  these  two  men  were  working 
in  ii^ngland,  an  American  artist,  vS.  F. 
B.  Morse,  was  studying  and  experi- 
menting in  the  United  States  along  his 
own  lines  but  with  the  same  end  in 
view,  namely  to  jjroduce  instruments 
which  would  satisfactorily  .send  mes- 
sages over  a  wire  by  electricity, 


422  FIRST  TELEGRAPH  LINE  FROM  BALTIMORE  TO  WASHINGTON 


An    American,    however,    is   given   the 
honor  of  First  by  Slight  Margin. 

Morse  was  bom  in  Charlcstown, 
Massachusetts,  in  1791.  He  was 
gifted  as  an  artist,  both  in  painting  and 
sculpture,  and  in  181 1  went  abroad 
to  England  to  study.  While  on  a 
voyage  from  Havre  to  America  in 
1832  he  met  on  board  ship  a  Dr. 
Jackson,  who  told  him  of  the  latest 
scientific  discoveries  in  regard  to  the 
electric  current  and  the  electro-magnet. 
This  set  Morse  to  thinking  and  after 
three  years'  hard  work  on  the  problem 
he  produced  a  telegraph  which  worked 
on  the  principle  of  the  electro-magnet. 
With  the  apparatus  devised  by  Morse 
and  his  partner  Alfred  Vail,  a  message 
was  sent  from  Washington  to  Balti- 
more in  1844. 

There  has  been  some  question  as  to 
whether  Morse  or  Wheatstone  first 
invented  a  workable  telegraph.  As 
will  be  evident  from  this  history,  the 
telegraph  in  principle  was  a  gradual 
development,  to  which  many  minds 
contributed.  To  Morse,  however,  the 
high  authority  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States  has  given  the  credit 
of  being  the  first  to  perfect  a  practical 
instrument,  saying  that  the  Morse 
invention  "  preceded  the  three  Euro- 
pean inventions  "  and  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  examine  the  latter 
without  perceiving  at  once  "  the  de- 
cided superiority  of  the  one  invented 
by  Professor  Morse." 

Uncle     Sam     Helped   Build    the    First 
Telegraph  Line. 

At  the  time  Morse's  Recording  Tele- 
graph was  invented  there  were,  of 
course,  no  telegraph  lines  in  any  part 
of  the  world,  with  the  exception  of 
the  short  lines  of  wire  put  up  by  in- 
vestigators for  experimental  purposes. 
To  remove  the  obscurity  as  to  the  pur- 
pose to  be  served  by  the  telegraph  was 
the  first  problem  which  presented 
itself  to  Morse  and  his  backers.  In 
1843  ^^  appropriation  was  secured  of 
$30,000  from  the  U.   S.   Government, 


with  which  a  line  was  built  from  Wasli- 
ington  to  Baltimore.  This  was  buih 
and  operated  by  the  Government  for 
about  two  years,  but  the  Government 
refused  to  purchase  the  patent  rights. 
So  the  owners  of  the  patents  endeavored 
to  get  the  general  jmblic  interested 
in  the  telegraph  as  a  commercial  under- 
taking and  gradually  companies  were 
founded  and  licensed  to  use  the  in- 
vention. 

By  1851  there  were  as  many  as  fifty 
different  telegraph  companies  in  opera- 
tion in  different  parts  of  the  United 
States.  A  few  of  these  used  the  devices 
of  a  man  named  Alexander  Bain, 
which  were  afterwards  adjudged  to 
infringe  the  Morse  patents,  and  one  or 
two  used  an  instrument  invented  by 
Royal  E.  House  of  Vermont,  which 
printed  the  messages  received  in  plain 
Roman  letters  on  a  ribbon  of  paper. 
This  at  first  seemed  to  have  an  advan- 
tage over  that  of  Morse,  which  re- 
ceived the  message  in  dots  and  dashes, 
in  the  Morse  Code,  and  these  had  to 
be  translated  and  written  out  by  an 
operator  before  they  could  be  delivered. 
However,  as  time  went  on,  the  opera- 
tors came  to  read  the  Morse  messages 
by  the  sound  of  the  dots  and  dashes, 
instead  of  waiting  to  read  the  paper 
tape  having  the  dots  and  dashes 
marked  on  it,  and  finally  the  record- 
ing feature  was  given  up  and  the 
sounder,  or  instrument  which  simply 
clicks  out  the  message,  came  into  gen- 
eral use. 

In  the  early  days,  the  possibility 
of  the  business  were  little  understood 
and  many  telegraph  companies  failed. 
April  8,  1851,  papers  were  filed  in 
Albany  for  the  incorporation  of  the 
New  York  and  IMississippi  Valley 
Printing  Telegraph  Co.  This  com- 
pany, which  soon  afterwards  changed 
its  name  to  Western  Union,  was  des- 
tined to  absorb  the  various  companies 
throughout  the  country  until  it,  in 
time,  operated  the  telegraph  lines 
over  practically  the  entire  United 
States,  and  has  its  blue  sign  in  nearly 
every  town  and  hamlet  in  the  country. 


AN  EXPENSIVE  EQUIPMENT  NECESSARY  TO=DAY 


423 


OPERATING   ROOM. 

In  large  cities  like  New  York  and  Chicago,  the  operating  rooms  are  very  large.  For  instance,  the  main 
operating  department  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co.  in  New  York  City  has  looo  operators.  This  picture 
shows  an  operating  room.  The  men  and  women  sit  in  opposite  sides  of  long  tables.  On  the  tables  are  the  keys 
and  sounders  by  which  they  send  and  receive  the  messages.  Each  operator  has  a  typewriter,  or  "  mill,"  as 
he  calls  it,  on  which  he  writes  off  the  message  as  it  comes  to  him  over  the  wire. 


MAIN    SWnclIUOARU. 

The  picture  shows  a  main  switchboard  in  a  InrKe  operatinR  room.  Tf)  this  come  the  ends  of  the  wires  from 
other  cities,  and  to  it  arc  connected  the  wires  from  the  instruments  in  front  of  the  ()i)erators.  By  putting 
pIuRS,  attached  to  each  end  of  a  wire,  into  the  sockets  in  th<;  board,  any  wire  can  be  connected  with  any  operat- 
ing position,  or  several  local  circuits  can  be  connecte<l  u[)  with  a  main  line  from  the  outside. 


424       A  THOROUGH  SYSTEM  MUST  HANDLE  THE  MESSAGES 


A  SECTION   OF  THE   REPEATER   ROOM. 

When  a  wire  runs  to  a  distant  point  from  the  main  operating  department  of  the  telegraph  company  in  a  large 
city,  the  same  electric  current  which  runs  through  the  key  of  the  operator  as  he  sits  at  his  place,  busily  send- 
ing messages,  does  not  go  out  over  the  wire  to  that  distant  point.  It  simply  goes  to  the  repeater  room  and 
operates  a  repeater,  which  sends  out  another  current  over  the  long  wire  which  leads  to  the  destination  of  the 
message.  This  is  necessary  because  the  condition  of  the  weather  affects  the  lines  and  the  current  strength 
has  to  be  changed  to  suit  the  changing  line  conditions.  The  operators  haven't  time  to  make  these  adjustments, 
and  so  all  the  repeaters  are  grouped  together  in  the  repeater  room  where  they  are  under  the  watchful  eyes  of 
experts.  Here  also  are  the  delicate  instruments  which  separate  the  messages  coming  over  duplex  and  quadruplex 
wires,  by  responding  to  impulses  of  various  strengths.  These  messages  which  have  been  separated  are  then 
transmitted  by  the  duplex  or  quadruplex  repeaters  to  different  operators  in  the  operating  room,  who  hear  their 
sounders  tick  out  the  message  just  the  same  as  if  it  came  over  u  simp''-  Mor'^e  v.ire. 


CABLES   ENTERING  A  CENTR.\L  OFFICE. 


You  mav  not  but  your  father  will  remember  the  time  when  in  large  cities  there  were  tall  telegraph  poles 
with  hundreds  of  wires  on  them  running  along  the  main  streets,  so  that  the  town  seemed  to  be  hound  with 
great  spiders'  web.  That  is  all  changed  now,  and  the  telegraph  wires  are  run  through  ducts,  placed  underground. 
For  this  purpose  they  are  made  up  in  cables,  and  in  the  picture  you  see  a  number  of  cables  entering  a  central 
office. 


THE  MARVEL  OF  TELEGRAPH  INSTRUMENTS 


425 


WHEATSTONE   SENDING   INSTRUMENT 


These  two  photographs  show  the  most  modern  form  of  the  instruments  which,  as  we  are  told  on  another  page, 
were  invented  in  England  by  Wheatstone  and  Cooke.  Tn  sending  a  paper  tape  is  punched  in  what  is  called  a 
perforator,  which  has  a  keyboard  like  a  typewriter.  A  certain  combination  of  holes  means  a  certain  letter.  This 
tape  is  then  automatically  fed  through  the  sending  instrument,  which  sends  impulses  over  the  wire.  The  tape 
with  the  holes  punched  through  it  can  be  seen  in  the  picture. 

On  the  right  is  the  Wheatstone  receiving  instrument.  It  prints  the  signals  received  in  dots  and  dashes 
on  a  tape,  which  is  translated  by  the  operator  who  typewrites  the  translation  on  a  message  blank  for  delivery. 


The  automatic  telegraph  typewriter  shown  here  is  one  of  the  wonderful  instruments  mentioned  on  one  of  the 
precedinf?  paRPS.  The  operator  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  writes  on  a  typewriter  keyboard,  on  the  scndinR 
instrument.  The  electric  impulses  are  received  by  the  machine  shown  above,  which  automatically  typewrites 
the  message  on  a  blank,  ready  for  delivery. 


On  this  page  we  see  some  of  the  first  tele- 
graph instruments,  in  fact,  the  very  instru- 
ments which  Professor  Morse  used  in  the 
early  demonstrations  of  his  invention.  These 
instruments  may  be  seen  in  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  at  Washington,  D.  C.  The  key 
is  known  as  the  Vail  key,  because  it  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  constructed  by  Alfred 
Vail,  who  worked  with  Morse  in  his  experi- 
ments with  the  telegraph.  As  can  be  seen 
it  is  very  simple.  One  wire  was  connected 
to  the  spring  piete  and  the  other  to  the  post 
beneath  it.  When  the  key  was  pressed  down, 
the  contact  was  made  and  an  impulse  sent 
over  the  wire,  either  a  dot,  if  the  key  was 
pressed  down  and  immediately  released,  or  a 
dash  if  it  were  held  down  for  just  the  fraction 
of  a  second  before  releasing. 

From  the  very  first  it  was  found  that  relays 
were  necessary,  because  the  current  after 
coming  a  long  way  over  the  wire  often  was 
not  strong  enough  to  operate  the  recording 
instrument.  Therefore,  this  weak  current 
was  made  to  go  though  the  electro-magnets 
of  the  relay,  magnetizing  these  and  pulling 
to  the  left  the  upright  arm  w'hich  can  be 
seen  in  the  photograph  with  a  little  block 
of  iron  attached  to  it.  This  arm,  when  pulled 
by  the  magnets,  made  a  contact  at  the  top 
and  allowed  a  strong  current  from  a  battery 
to  flow  through  the  magnets  of  the  recording 
instrument. 

The  first  practical  recording  telegraph 
Instrument  devised  by  Morse  is  shown.  It 
looks  like  a  clumsy  affair  compared  to  the 
instruments  of  to-day,  but  it  worked  so 
effectively  as  to  convince  people  of  the  pos- 
sibilities of  the  great  invention.  In  the 
wooden  box,  attached  to  the  frame  at  the 
right,  is  clockwork  which  pulled  a  paper  tape 
at  an  even  rate  of  speed  over  a  pulley  just 
beneath  a  needle  point.  This  needle  poin^ 
is  attached  to  a  light  framework  having  a 
piece  of  iron  fastened  in  it.  Below  this  iron 
are  the  electro-magnets,  and  when  they  re- 
ceived an  impulse  of  current  from  the  battery, 
through  the  relay,  they  pulled  down  the  frajne 
so  that  the  point  made  a  mark  upon  the  pa^er 
tape,  which  moved  uftder  it.  Thus  in  the 
tape  appeared  a  series  of  dots  and  dashes, 
which  the  operator,  knowing  the  Morse  Code, 
could  easily  translate  into  English. 


ONE  OF   THE   FIRST    KEYS  FOR  SENDING 
TELEGRAMS. 


ONE  OF   THE  FIRST    RELAYS. 


The  first  recording  apparatus.  Tlie  box  on 
the  right  contains  clock  work  for  pulling  a 
paper  tape  beneath  a  sharp  point  actuated 
by  magnets. 


THE  LITTLE  INSTRUMENTS  THAT  CHECK  OFF  THE  WORDS    427 


'If*              a=^ 

I  ^J^  1 

A  LATER  KEY. 


A  LATER  AND  IMPROVED  KECORUI.NG  INSTKUMLNT. 


Here  we  see  some  early  telegraph  instruments  which  have  been  improved  somewhat  from 
the  crude  devices  illustrated  on  the  preceding  page.  The  key  answers  the  same  purpose  as 
before,  but  has  been  improved  by  pivoting  the  lever  arm,  and  having  a  coil  spring,  adjustable 
by  means  of  a  screw,  so  that  the  weight  necessary  to  press  it  down  can  be  varied  to  suit  the 
likings  of  the  operator  who  uses  it.  The  play  of  the  key  or  the  distance  it  must  be  pressed  down 
before  it  makes  an  electric  contact,  can  be  adjusted  by  another  screw. 

The  recording  instrument  here  shown  is  a  much  neater  affair  than  the  cumbersome  device 
which  Professor  Morse  first  built.  The  cumbersome  wooden  box  has  been  replaced  with  a  neat 
brass  frame  containing  the  clockwork  for  drawing  the  paper  tape  beneath  the  marking  point, 
which  is  attached  to  a  piece  of  iron,  or  armature,  placed  just  above  the  magnet. 

Below  we  see  the  most  modern  types  of  Morse  instruments.  In  the  center  is  the  key, 
which  is  not  much  changed  except  that  it  is  built  to  be  low  down  to  a  table,  so  that  the  operator 
may  rest  his  forearm  on  the  table  top  in  front  of  it,  and  operate  the  key  with  his  wrist,  with 
less  fatigue.  The  relay  at  the  left  is  interesting.  It  shows  how  little  this  instrument  has 
changed,  except  for  refinement  in  its  appearance,  from  the  first  relay  built  by  Professor  Morse. 
At  the  right  is  the  Morse  sounder,  which  has  replaced  the  old  Morse  tape  recording  instrument. 
When  current  goes  through  the  magnets  they  attract  a  piece  of  iron  attached  to  the  metal  arm 
and  pull  it  down  to  strike  the  brass  frame.  This  makes  a  click,  and  when  the  current  is  inter- 
cepted, the  magnets  release  the  arm  and  a  spring  pulls  it  back,  making  another  click.  The 
operator  reads  the  message  by  listening  to  the  clicks.  If  the  up  click  comes  right  after  the 
down  click  it  represents  a  dot.     If  there  is  a  pause  between  them,  a  dash  is  represented. 


Relay  Key 

MODERN    MORSE  INSTKIIM KNTS 


Sounder 


428    WHAT  OCEAN   CABLES   LOOK   LIKE  WHEN  CUT   IN   TWO 


Light  Intermediate 


fftavy  Intermediate 


Main  Cable 


Rock  Cable 


Heavy  Shore  End 


Tia,  1. — CiBUS  OH  VANConm- 

Fakhtso  Island  Seotion. 

Full  size. 

Core,  aOO/MO. 


Hekvy  Shore  End 


Heavy  Intermediate 


Light  latermedlate 


Bay  Cable 


Fio.  2.— CASLS3  USD  oir  Fui-NOBTOU  Uum-qmssduD  iits'Kiw  Zbalahc  Ssonoim.    FuU  sit*.    Core  130/130. 

This  picture  shows  cross- sections  of  a  cable  which  runs  from  Vancouver,  B.  C,  to  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
A  cable  is  not  laid  with  a  uniform  cross-section.  On  the  floor  of  the  ocean,  perhaps  miles  below  the  surface, 
the  cable  rests  quietly  and  is  not  moved  by  storms  which  generate  great  waves  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  As 
the  cable  approaches  the  shore,  the  movement  of  the  water  goes  deeper  and  the  cable  must  be  made  heavier  to 
prevent  it  from  being  worn  by|!movement  on  the  bed  of  the  ocean.  Where  the  cable  passes  over  a  rocky  bottom, 
it  is  made  much  larger  in  diameter  and  is  heavily  armored. 


HOW  AN  OCEAN   CABLE   IS   LAID 


429 


Here  is  the  cable  steamship  "  Colonia  "  laying  the  shore  end  of  a  cable.  Note  the  row 
of  floats  upon  the  water  which  carry  the  cable  until  the  end  in  the  cable  office  is  firmly  fastened. 
When  this  is  accomplished  the  floats  are  removed  and  the  cable  sinks  to  the  bottom. 


The  Story  in   an   Ocean   Cable 


What  is  a  Cable  Made  of? 

A  SUBMARINE  telegraph  cable  as 
usually  made  consists  of  a  core  in  the 
center  of  which  is  a  strand  of  copper 
wire  which  varies  in  weight  from  seventy 
to  four  hundred  pounds  to  the  mile. 
Strands  of  copper  wire  instead  of  one 
thick  wire  of  copper  are  used,  because 
the  former  is  more  flexible.  The  cop- 
per conductor  is  covered  with  several 
coatings  of  rubber  of  equal  weight  to 
the  copper  wires.  After  this  comes 
a  coating  of  jute  serving,  then  a  layer 
of  galvanized  iron  wires  and  finally 
a  layer  of  yam  and  compound  which 
forms  the  outer  covering  of  the  cable. 
In  addition  to  this  where  the  cable 
lays  among  rocks  that  might  injure 
it,  chains  are  securely  wrapped  around 
it,  so  as  to  prevent  wear  and  tear  as 
much  as  possible. 

You  may  not  have  known  it,  but  the 
cable  which  lies  on  the  bottom  where 
the  water  is  deepest  is  never  so  large 
as  nearer  the  shore  or  in  shallow  water. 


Little  by  little  the  men  who  lay  and 
look  after  cables  have  found  that  it  is 
best  to  have  a  specially  constructed 
outer  covering  for  different  depths 
and  character  of  bottoms  so  as  to  pro- 
vide the  least  possible  danger  of  damage 
through  the  action  of  the  water  on  the 
bottom. 


How  is  a  Cable  Laid? 

When  the  cable  of  suflEicient  length  is 
completed,  it  is  carried  to  a  specially 
equipped  vessel  which  has  a  great 
tank  for  holding  the  cable  and  the 
necessary  machinery  for  lowering  it 
over  the  end  of  the  ship  into  the  water. 
The  cable  is  carefully  coiled  in  the 
tank,  the  difTcrent  coils  being  prevented 
from  adhering  by  a  coat  of  whitewash. 
First  then,  a  sufficient  length  of  cable 
is  paid  out  to  reach  the  cable  house  or 
shore.  Here  it  is  finally  tested  to  see 
that  the  entire  length  of  cable  is  in 
working  order.  If  satisfactorily  tested, 
the  vessel  steams  slowly  away  on  the 


430    STORING  A  CABLE  LONG  ENOUGH  TO  CROSS  THE  OCEAN 


Here  we  see  a  cable  coiled  round  and  round  in  the  tank  wliich  holds  it  on  board  the  cable  ship. 


In  the  front  of  the  picture  we  see  the  cable  coming  frorn  the  tank  in  which  it  is  coiled.  It 
goes  over  the  drum  of  the  paying-out  machine  and  thence  to  the  bow  of  the  ship,  where  it  passes 
over  big  sheaves  or  pulleys  and  down  into  the  ocean. 


THE   MACHINERY   ON   A  CABLE  SHIP 


431 


The  paying-out  machine.  The  cable  makes  a  couple  of  turns  around  the  big  drum,  which 
is  connected  to  the  dial,  so  that  the  dial  indicates  the  length  of  cable  which  has  been  paid  out 
into  the  sea. 


Ti.i,  ■■■.,/iJ<  :  ,.;.■....:;  -]■■'..  •■/,  ll.:  ..ilAi  ..it  ,i;:i.,!,i))  "  'I  i  li  >  .m,;,"  ..In  iwiii;;  the  ^vnv  whicli  is 
uscfl  in  paying  out  the  cable.  Away  in  the  bow  arc  the  l>ig  slicavcs  over  wliich  the  cable  goes 
into  the  sea.     Nearer  is  a  dviianioiiietcr  vvhi(.h  measures  the  tension  on  the  cable. 


432 


HOW  THE  CABLE  IS  DROPPED  INTO  THE  OCEAN 


\ 


Here  we  see  the  cable  on  the  lead,  as  it  is  called,  passing  over  the  big  bow  sheave  from  which 
it  dives  into  the  depths  of  the  sea. 


THE  CABLE  ARRIVES  ON  THE   OTHER  SIDE 


433 


course  outlined,  paying  out  the  cable 
as  she  goes. 

The  vessel  must  pay  out  more  than 
a  mile  of  cable  for  every  mile  she  travels 
because  there  must  be  enough  slack 
allowed  at  the  same  time  to  provide 
for  the  unevenness  of  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  For  this  purpose  the  amount  of 
cable  paid  out  must  be  measured.  This 
is  done  by  the  paying-out  machine, 
which  is  shown  in  one  of  the  pictures. 
The  difference  between  the  speed  of  the 
ship  and  the  amount  of  cable  paid  out 
gives  the  amount  of  slack.  Too  much 
slack  would  also  be  bad,  so  that  it  is 
a  very  pretty  problem  to  pay  out  just 
enough  and  both  the  speed  of  the 
vessel  and  the  rate  of  paying  out  the 
cable  must  be  watched  carefully. 

One  of  the  greatest  wonders  accom- 
plished by  the  ingenuity  of  man  is  the 
ocean  telegraph,  by  which  we  flash 
messages  back  and  forth  under  the  sea 
between  the  continents  and  completely 
around  the  world. 


Hardly  had  the  telegraph  become  an 
established  fact,  before  Professor  Morse, 
who  made  the  telegraph  practical, 
expressed  the  belief  that  a  telegraph 
line  to  Europe  by  means  of  a  wire  laid 
on  the  bottom  of  the  ocean  was  easily 
possible  at  some  future  time.  Mr. 
Cyrus  W.  Field,  the  first  to  lay  an 
ocean  cable  successfully,  heard  him 
and  in  his  own  mind  said  "  Why  not 
now?"  The  idea  fixed  itself  so  thor- 
oughly in  his  resolute  mind  that  he 
soon  said  to  himself  "  It  shall  be  done," 
and  went  to  work,  and  labored  in- 
cessantly through  twelve  years  of  fail- 
ure and  discouragement  before  he 
accomphshed  his  task,  which  was  a 
great  compliment  to  this  giant  of 
American  stick-to-it-iveness. 

While  many  doubted  the  feasibility 
of  the  project  and  others  thought  it 
the  dream  of  a  disordered  brain,  Mr. 
Field  found  many  who  believed  in  him 
and  his  idea  and  who  loaned  him  their 
financial  support  for  the  undertaking. 


Landing  the  shore  end  of  a  cable.  The  cable  is  supported  on  ^^veral  boats  and  this  picture 
shows  the  inshore  boat  with  the  end  of  the  cable  reaching  the  beach  with  the  seas  breaking  over 
her. 


434     THE   MEN   WHO   MADE  THE   OCEAN    CABLE   POSSIBLE 


THE    PIONEERS   OF  THE   FIRST   OCEAN   CABLE. 


American  genius  had  not  at  that 
time  asserted  its  supremacy  in  me- 
chanics and  so  the  first  cable  had  to  be 
made  in  England ;  so  Mr.  Field  ordered 
one  long  enough  to  stretch  from  the 
west  coast  of  Ireland  to  the  eastern 
point  of  Newfoundland.  English  cap- 
italists subscribed  the  money  and  the 
United  States  provided  the  vessel  in 
which  to  store  and  from  which  to  drop 
the  cable  into  the  ocean. 

Upon  the  first  attempt  to  lay  the 
cable,  ever\^  thing  went  along  nicely 
for  six  days,  and  then  suddenly  the 
cable  broke  when  three  hundred  and 
thirty-five  miles  had  been  laid,  and 
many  said  it  could  not  be  done.  Mr. 
Field,  however,  full  of  American  pluck 
and  determination,  said  "  We  will  try 
again."  A  second  attempt  was  made 
with  two  ships,  the  U.  S.  S.  "Niagara" 
and  H.  M.  S.  S.  "Agamemnon."  Each 
ship  carried  half  the  cable  and  they 
traveled  in  company  to  the  middle 
of  the  ocean.  There  the  two  pieces 
of  the  cable  were  spliced  together  and 
the  ships  started  for  the  shores  in  oppo- 
site directions.  Again,  however,  when 
only  a  little  of  the  cable  had  been  paid 


out — a  little  more  than  one  hundred 
miles  in  fact^the  cable  broke  and  both 
ships  were  forced  to  return  to  England. 

In  his  third  attempt  the  cable  was 
finally  laid  clear  across  the  ocean  and 
fastened  at  both  ends.  When  tried  it 
was  found  to  work  successfully  and 
Queen  Victoria  and  President  Buchanan 
were  able  to  exchange  greetings  upon 
the  achievemnt  of  a  wonderful  work. 
The  people  celebrated  the  event  on 
both  sides  of  the  ocean,  but  in  the  midst 
of  the  festivities,  while  a  message  was 
being  flashed,  something  happened  to 
the  cable — what,  we  have  never  been 
able  to  learn — and  the  cable  was  silent, 
forever. 

Nothing  daunted,  however,  Mr.  Field 
by  his  great  courage  induced  his  backers 
to  buy  him  another  cable  and  the 
"Great  Eastern"  sailed  upon  what 
was  to  be  a  most  successful  mission. 
Starting  from  the  American  side  with 
the  greatest  steamship  then  known  in 
charge  of  the  previous  cable,  the  other 
end  was  successfully  landed  at  Hearts 
Content,  Ireland,  on  July  27,  1866, 
in  perfect  working  order,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  the  ocean  telegraph  was  solved. 


HOW   CABLES   ARE   REPAIRED 


435 


Here  is  a  buoy  which  is  anchored  to  the 
cable.  The  cable  ship  will  pick  it  up  and 
haul  up  the  cable  to  the  surface  for  inspection 
and  perhaps  it  will  have  to  be  repaired. 


In  this  picture  we  see  a  portion  of  a  cable 
which  has  been  fouled  by  the  anchor  of  a  ship 
and  badly  damaged.  Note  how  the  wires 
are  bunched.  The  cable  splicers  will  go  to 
work  on  this  and  put  in  a  new  piece  of  cable, 
after  which  it  will  be  let  down  into  the  sea 
again. 


Three  grapnels  uscfl  fi^r  jjicking  up  a  caJjlo 
from  the  bed  of  the  ocean.  (Jn  tiie  left  is 
a  common  graj^nel.  In  the  middle  is  a  special 
grapnel  known  as  'i'rotl-Kingsford.  On  tlie 
right  is  the  orrlinary  cutting  grapnel.  Note 
the  knives  on  the  shaft  and  the  insides  of  the 
(jrongs. 


436    POWERFUL  ENGINES  NEEDED  ON   CABLE  REPAIR  SHIPS 


Here  are  the  powerful  engines  which  are  used  for  picking  up  a  cable  which  has  to  be  raised 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  for  inspection  or  repair. 


In  this  picture  we  see  men  at  work  splicmg  a  cable  which  has'been  picked  up  out  of  the  depths 
of  tlie  sea  and  found  to  be  damaged. 


THE  SHIP  WHICH  HELPED  IN  LAYING  THE  FIRST  CABLE    437 


Here  is  one  of  the  machines  used  for  armoring  the  cable.  By  armoring  is  meant  winding 
steel  wires  around  and  around  the  cable  to  protect  it  from  being  cut  by  sharp  rocks  on  the  bottom 
or  by  deep  sea  animals  like  the  teredo,  which  might  attack  it. 


The  "Great  Eastern"  which  was  the  first  ship  to  carry  a  cable  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 


This  is  a  section  of  a  telephone  cable,  known  as  a  "  bulge."  It  contains  inductance  coils 
to  offset  what  is  called  the  condenser  capacity  of  the  cable,  which  would  otherwise  cause  the 
talking  to  become  blurred. 


438       THE  DOTS  AND  DASHES  WHICH  FLASH  ACROSS  THE  SEA 


Making  repairs  to  a  cable  where  it  comes 
out  of  the  sea  on  to  a  bold  rocky  shore.  Note 
how  the  cable  is  wound  with  chain  to  protect 
it  from  the  rocks. 


Facsimile  of  Continental  Moree  Alphabet  as  Signalled  .\croits  the  Atlantic 
«nd  Copied  on  Tape  by  Siphon  Recorder  Instrument  at  the  Receiving  Station. 
Signals  Enlarged  for  Purposes  of  this  lUustrat  ion. 


CONTINENTAL  MORSE  CODE  SIGNALS 
USED  IN  CABLE  WORKING 


A.I_PMABET: 

A         B         C         D         E:         F        G 


.5*      <"    '^        I/.        <t/        X"-    J/ 


H  I 

O         P 


J  K 

Q         R 


l_         IVI        N 
S         T        U 


NA/ 


RIGURES: 

3 


S.Amc  Signals  as  They  Appear  in  Actual  Working 


Q,   ^    C       diC^a.-h/'^l.^C-m/n/ofrJ 


Here  are  two  photographs  showing  the  continental  Morse  code  signals  used  in  cable  working  and  the  signals 
as  they  are  received  by  the  siphon  recording  instrument  at  the  receiving  station.  This  siphon  recorder  is  in 
practical  use  in  the  cable  world"  The  dots  and  dashes  sent  into  the  wire  on  one  side  of  the  ocean  according  to  the 
Morse  code,  cause  the  siphon  recorder  through  the  means  of  electrified  ink  to  make  a  waving  line  on  a  tape. 
The  signals  are  readily  reducible  again  if  necessary  to  the  dots  and  dashes  of  the  Morse  code  because  dots  make 
deflections  to  one  side  of  the  center  of  the  tape  and  dashes  to  the  other.  The  operator  who  receives  the  message 
can  therefore  readily  read  it. 


TO=DAY  THERE  ARE   MANY  CABLES  ON   THE  BOTTOM     439 


440 


THE  STORY   IN   A  RAILWAY  LOCOMOTIVE 


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CYLINDERS  BIG  ENOUGH  FOR  MEN  TO  SIT  DOWN  IN        441 


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442 


THE    LOCOMOTIVE   ENGINEER'S   WORK   ROOM 


Here  is  a  picture  of  one  end  ot 
the  boiler  of  this  giant  locomotive. 
It  would  take  a  man  more  than 
seven  feet  high  to  bumj)  liis  head 
in  tlic  middle  of  it  while  standing  on 
his  feet. 


This  shows  a  picture  of  the  engineer's  cab  oi  one  of  these  great  railroad  niacliiiies.  We  are  accustomed 
to  see  the  levers  and  other  machinery  for  operating  the  engine  ri<jht  in  the  back  of  the  engine  cab.  Over 
or  near  the  firebox.  Upon  looking  closely  we  f:nd  that  the  operating  machinery  is  at  the  side  of  the  locomotive 
and  far  forward  in  the  cab.  In  fact  there  is  a  complete  set  of  operating  machinery  on  both  sides  of  the  cab, 
so  that  the  engineer  can  run  the  engine  from  whatever  side  he  happens  to  be  on.  This  is  very  necessary,  par- 
ticularly in  switching.  Near  the  end  of  the  cab  where  the  engineer  used  to  sit  you  will  notice  a  peculiar  pipe-like 
arrangement.  This  is  not  for  operating  the  engine,  but  is  the  automatic  stoker,  which  is  fully  explained  in  the 
next  picture.     An  engine  of  this  size  will  require  seven  tons  of  coal  per  hour. 


A  MACHINE  WHICH  DOES  THE  WORK  OF  FOUR  FIREMEN      443 


When  these  large  1  .L<.iiioiives  were  first  used  it  was  found  that  no  one  fireman  could  shovel 
in  enough  coal  to  keep  the  steam  up.  It  would  require  three  or  four  firemen  working  constantly 
to  shovel  enough  coal  to  keep  this  engine  going.  Man's  inventive  genius  came  to  the  front, 
however,  and  now  we  have  an  automatic  fireman,  so  to  speak.  Instead  of  shoveling  coal  on  one 
of  these  engines  the  fireman  merely  operates  a  lever.  This  is  a  picture  of  the  Sweet  locomotive 
stoker  installed  in  a  railroad  engine.  This  machine  automatically  conveys  coal  from  the  tender 
to  the  locomotive,  raises  it  by  an  elevator^to  a  point  above  the  fire  door,  dumps  it  into  the  fire- 
box and  spreads  it  evenly  over  the  grate. 


^:  - 


'lliis  is  the  new  tyijc  of  electric  locomotive  being  used  by  tin:  New  York  Central  system 


444     HOW  A  FAST  TRAIN  TAKES  WATER  WITHOUT  STOPPING 


The  fast  express  trains  haven't  time  to  stop  and  take  water  from  the  tank  at  the  side  of  the  railroad  as  in 
former  days.  This  picture  shows  a  tank  built  between  the  tracks  which  enables  the  engineer  to  f;ll  his  boilers 
without  slackening  speed.  When  approaching  this  tank  the  engineer  simply  lowers  a  tube  into  the  water,  the 
end  of  which  is  a  scoop.  The  moving  engine  thus  forces  the  water  up  into  the  tube,  from  which  it  runs  into  the 
boiler. 


This  is  an  improved  signal  tower  irom  wh.ch  switches  are  opLTated.  If  you  were  ever  in  a  signal  tower 
you  will  not  recognize  this  as  one,  for  you  are  used  to  seeing  a  room  full  of  levers  which  the  tower  man  had  to 
pull  hard  when  he  wished  to  throw  a  switch.  By  the  old  way  the  end  of  the  lever  was  attached  to  a  wire  which 
was  connected  with  the  switch.  The  wire  running  through  pipes,  when  the  operator  pulled  the  lever  the  switch 
was  pulled  shut  by  the  pull  cfci  the  wire.  In  this  new  plan  the  switch  is  controlled  by  electricity,  and  the  operator 
has  merely  to  pull  out  a  plug  as  shown  in  the  picture,  which  is  much  easier  than  operating  a  lever. 


WHAT   MAKES  A  WIRELESS   MESSAGE   GO 


445 


Sketch  showing  arrangement  of  aerial  on  ship  equipped  with  the  Marconi  Direction  Finder 
an  instrument  which  tells  the  sea  captain  the  exact  points  of  the  compass  from  which  wireless 
distress  signals  are  being  sent  and  enables  ships  to  avoid  collisions  in  fog. 


The  Story  in  the  Wireless 


What  is  the  Principle  of  the  Wireless 
Telegraphy  ? 

Drop  a  stone  in  a  pool  of  water. 
Circular  waves  or  ripples  will  travel 
outward  in  all  directions.  That  is 
the  principle  of  wireless  telegraph. 

If  a  chip  be  floating  on  the  water 
it  will  be  rocked  by  each  ripple,  just 
as  a  wireless  receiving  station  will 
respond  to  the  electrical  waves  or 
impulses  that  make  up  a  wireless 
message.  It  is  not  known  just  how 
the  invisible  wireless  waves  are  pro- 
pelled through  space,  but  they  travel 
through  the  ether  in  the  air  in  very- 
much  the  same  way  as  do  sound 
waves.  The  electrical  signals,  too,  arc 
received  only  by  apparatus  that  is 
attuned  to  them;  that  is,  they  can  not 
be  heard  except  at  wireless  stations, 
any  more  than  sound  can  be  heard  by 
the  ears  of  a  deaf  person. 


The  wireless  waves  have  a  definite 
length,  can  be  measured  in  feet  or 
meters,  and  are  regulated  according 
to  the  distance  the  message  is  to 
travel.  Stations  that  send  a  few  hun- 
dred miles  use  a  wave  length  of  six 
hundred  meters,  or  less,  while  at  the 
powerful  land  stations  used  for  trans- 
atlantic work  the  wave  lengths  used  run 
into  as  many  thousands. 

Why   Don't   the    Messages   Go   to    the 

Wrong  Stations? 

So  that  the  hundreds  of  messages 
hurtling  through  space  at  the  same 
time  will  not  interfere,  the  wireless 
stations  arc  equipped  with  tuning- 
apparatus  through  which  they  can 
adjust  their  wave  length  to  receive 
the  j)articular  message  desired.  A  dif- 
ferent wave  length  is  used  by  each 
shif)  or  wireless  shore  station,  and  even 
though  dozens  of  messages  fill  the  air. 


446 


HOW  THE   WIRELESS   REACHES  SHIPS   AT  SEA 


The  Marconi  Wireless  station  at  Miami, 
Fla.,  which  is  typical  of  the  shore  stations 
that  handle  messages  to  several  thousand 
ships  at  sea. 

the  minute"  the  wireless  operator  ad- 
justs his  tuner  to  the  length  of  the 
station  he  is  after,  that  particular 
message  stands  out  very  strongly  and 
all  the  others  grow  dim. 

How  Does  the  Wireless  Reach  Ships  at 
Sea? 

All  ships  at  sea  report  their  ]30si- 
tions  regularly;  thus  it  is  a  simple 
matter  for  a  shore  station  to  send  a 
wireless  message  to  the  ship  to  which 
it  is  addressed.  For  example,  the 
Marconi  station  at  Sea  Gate,  New 
York,  w^ants  to  reach  the  Lusitania. 
The  operator  looks  up  that  vessel  on 
the  list  and  notes  her  call  signal  and 
wave  length.  He  adjusts  his  tuner 
to  correspond  and  calls  her  signal, 
M^F  A,  repeating  it  three  times. 

The  wireless  man  on  the  vessel, 
knowing  that  he  is  within  range  of  a 
shore  station,  has  set  his  tuner  at  the 
wave  length  assigned  to  him  and  is 
listening.  When  his  call  letters  are 
heard,  he  acknowledges  them  and  sig- 


nals to  go  ahead  with  the  message. 
When  it  has  been  given,  the  Sea  Gate 
station  "  signs  oft"  "  with  its  call 
letters  W  S  E  and  the  ship  operator 
enters  in  his  record  that  that  particular 
message  reached  him  via  the  Marconi 
station  at  Sea  Gate.  Thus,  with  the 
wide  variety  in  wave  lengths,  no  con- 
fusion of  messages  exists  and  any  de- 
sired ship  or  shore  station  can  be  called, 
just  as  a  direct  tele])hone  connection 
is  secured  by  giving, the  central  station 
the  call  number  of  the  subscriber 
wanted. 

What  Kind  of  Signs  Are  Used  in  the 
Wireless? 

The  actual  wireless  message  is  com- 
posed of  dots  and  dashes,  which,  in 
certain  combinations,  stand  for  certain 
letters  of  the  alphabet.  This  is  done 
through  opening  and  closing  the  elec- 
trical circuit  by  pressing  a  key,  a  sharp 
touch  forming  a  dot  and  a  longer 
pressure  a  dash,  as  with  the  wire 
telegraph. 

If  secrecy  in  a  wireless  message  is 
wanted,  the  words  are  sent  in  cipher 
which,  of  course,  cannot  be  understood 
by  outsiders.  The  Government  sends 
thousands  of  words  each  day  without 
a  single  word  meaning  anything  to 
the  wireless  stations  that  happen  to 
be  "  listening  in."  While  it  is  true 
that  any  one  owning  a  wireless  receiv- 
ing set  may  listen  to  messages  flying 
through  the  air,  every  person  within 
hearing  who  understands  the  Morse 
Code  can  read  the  telegrams  that  come 
into  a  telegraph  office.  Knowledge 
thus  gained,  however,  is  of  little  value, 
as  the  law  provided  heavy  penalties 
for  disclosing  the  contents  of  any  kind 
of  telegraph  message. 

What  Does  a  Wireless  Equipment  Con- 
sist of? 

The  various  ap])aratus  that  comprises 
a  wireless  equipment  can  not  be  prop- 
erly explained  without  the  use  of  tech- 
nical language,  but  the  general  prin- 
ciple of  operation  is  somewhat  as 
follows:  If  a  small  loop  of  copper 
wire,  with  a  slight  separation  between 
the    ends,    is    placed    across    a    room 


THE  WIRELESS   IN   THE  ARMY 


447 


Pack  and  riding  horses 
grouped  together  ready 
for  unloading  the  Marconi 
wireless  set  used  in  the 
cavalry. 


Station  set  up  and  working. 


r      ^j 


WORKING    THE    WIRELESS    IN    THE    ARMY. 


from  an  electric  spark,  it  will  be  slightly 
affected.  Increase  the  electrical  cur- 
rent to  far  greater  power  and  control 
it,  and  the  invisible  electrical  wave 
may  be  thrown  many  miles.  To  send 
a  message  across  the  ocean,  the  cur- 
rent used  by  the  modern  wireless 
station  is  so  powerful  that  it  will  pass 
through  storm  and  fog,  even  through 
mountains,  without  losing  much  of 
its  force.  When  this  tremendous  force 
is  released  by  pressing  the  telegraph 
key,  it  leaps  from  the  aerial  wires, 
or  antennae,  travels  across  the  Atlantic 
and  is  picked  up  by  a  corresponding 
aerial,  attuned  to  receive  the  sig- 
nal. 

The  aerial,  or  antennae,  as  it  is  called 
in  a  wireless  work,  is  made  up  of  cop- 
per wires.  On  a  ship  these  are  strung 
between  the  masts,  usually  consist- 
ing of  two,  four  or  six  wires  held  apart 
by  crosspicces.  Two  or  more  wires 
lead  down  from  this  to  the  wireless 
cabin. 

The  coil  or  transformer  is  the  appara- 
tus which  1  produces  the  spark  that 
forms  the  electrical  waves.  In  small 
stations,     the     length     and     thickness 


of  the  spark  and  the  speed  of  vibration 
is  regulated  by  a  thumb  screw.  Trans- 
formers are  used  when  the  power  is 
taken  from  the  alternating  current  of 
an  electric  light  circuit. 

The  gap,  which  the  electrical  current 
jumps  when  the  telepraph  key  is  pressed 
down,  is  composed  of  two  rods  which 
slide  together  or  apart  to  vary  the  length 
of  the  spark. 

The  simplest  type  of  sending  sta- 
tion consists  of  the  antenna,  battery, 
coil,  wireless  key  and  spark  gap.  If 
a  change  in  wave  length  is  desired  a 
transmitting  tuning  coil  must  be  added. 

The  receiving  apparatus  contains  a 
detector,  which  is  chiefly  two  mineral 
points  lightly  touching  and  connected 
with  a  sensitive  head  tcle])hone.  The 
incoming  signals  arc  heard  as  long  and 
short  buzzing  sounds  corrcsijonding  to 
the  dots  and  daslics.  The  receiving 
tuning  coil,  used  to  adjust  wave 
lengths,  is  ojDerated  by  simply  moving 
sliding  contacts  along  a  bar  until  the 
signals  are  more  jjlainly  heard.  While 
the  large  stations  have  more  com- 
plicated ajjparatus,  the  principle  re- 
mains the  same. 


448 


THE   HEIGHT   OF   WIRELESS   MASTS 


■^  'W^' 

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^^^^^Bf  •'   .S\^ 

^^ 

1-  >' 

The  masts  for  the  cavalry  wire- 
less sets  are  so  attached  that  they 
can  be  loaded  and  unloaded  with 
the  utmost  rapidity;  a  complete 
station  can  be  erected  or  dismantled 
in  less  than  ten  minutes. 


The  gasoline  engine  which  sup- 
plies the  power  for  operating  a 
cavalry  wireless  station  is  fitted 
to  the  saddle  frame  and  is  light 
enough  to  be  carried  by  one  horse. 


THE    WIRELESS    IN    THE    ARMY 


How    High    Do    Wireless    Masts    Have 
to  be? 

The  towering  masts  of  the  Marconi 
Trans-Oceanic  stations  are  often  sup- 
posed to  rise  to  their  great  height,  so 
that  an  antennae  will  be  raised  above 
the  obstructions  between.  If  this  were 
necessary,  two  wireless  stations  sepa- 
rated by  the  Atlantic  would  have  to 
have  masts  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  miles  high  to  rise  above  the  cur- 
vature of  the  earth.  The  path  of  the 
wireless  waves,  however,  is  not  in  a 
straight  line,  but  follows  the  curva- 
ture of  the  earth.  Scientists  explain 
this  by  saying  the  rarefied  air  above 
the  earth's  surface  acts  as  a  shell 
enclosing  the  globe. 


The  speed  of  wireless  messages  is 
placed  at  186,000  miles  per  second. 
A  wireless  message  will  thus  cross  the 
Atlantic  in  about  one-nineteenth  of 
a  second — a  period  of  time  too  small 
for  the  human  mind  to  grasp.  In 
other  words,  the  wireless  flash  crosses 
in  a  fraction  of  a  second  a  distance 
that  the  earth  requires  five  hours 
to  turn  on  its  axis  and  the  fastest 
ships  take  nearly  a  week  to  cross. 

The  longest  distance  over  which  a 
wireless  message  can  be  sent  is  not 
definitely  known;  the  present  record 
was  made  in  September,  19 10,  by 
Marconi  from  Clifden,  Ireland,  to 
Buenos  Aires,  Argentina,  a  distance 
of  6700  miles. 


THE  WIRELESS  PREVENTS  ACCIDENTS  AND  SAVES  MANY  LIVES  449 


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450     HOW    THE  WIRELESS   IS   INSTALLED   ON   FAST  TRAINS 


RAILROAD    WIRF.LESS. — ANTENNA    ON   CARS. 


WIRELESS    STATION    ON   TRAINS. 


WIRELESS   STATION   IN   U.   S.   ARMY 


451 


City  side  of  Scranton  station,  Laclcawanna  R.R.,  showing  aerial  of  wireless  which  comma 
nicates  with  trains. 


WIRELESS   KECEIVINU    STATKJN    I.N    L.    S.    ARMY. 


I'huiu  by   Sicfano 


452       THE    MAN    WHO    INVENTED   WIRELESS   TELEGRAPHY 


Gugliclmo  Marconi, 
Inventor  of  wireless  telegraphy. 

The  Man  Who  Invented  Wireless  Teleg- 
raphy. 

Communication  without  wares  for 
thousands  of  miles  across  oceans,  from 
continent  to  continent,  is  a  far  cry  from 
sending  a  wireless  impulse  the  length 
of  a  kitchen  table.  That  is  the  develop- 
ment of  twenty  years. 

To  i^roperly  trace  the  development 
of  wireless  telegraphy,  however,  it  is 
necessary  to  go  back  eighty-three  years 
to  when,  in  1831,  Michael  Faraday 
discovered  electro-magnetic  induction 
between  two  entirely  separate  cir- 
cuits. Steinheil,  of  j^lunich,  too,  in 
1838,  suggested  that  the  metallic  por- 
tion of  a  grounded  electrical  circuit 
might  be  dispensed  with  and  a  system 
of  wdreless  telegraphy  established. 
Then,  in  1859,  BowTnan  Lindsay  demon- 
strated to  the  British  Association  his 
method  of  transmitting  messages  by 
means  of  magnetism  through  and 
across  the  water  without  submerged 
wires.  In  1867  James  Clerk  Maxwell 
laid  down  the  theory  of  electro-mag- 
netism and  predicted  the  existence  of 
the  electric  waves  that  are  now  used  in 
wireless  telegraphy.  Dolbear,  of  Tufts 
College,  in  1836,  patented  a  plan  for 
establishing  wireless  communication  by 
means  of  two  insulated  elevated  plates, 
but  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  method 
proposed  by  him  effected  the  trans- 
mission of  signals  between  stations 
separated    by    any    distance.     A    year 


later  Heinrich  Rudolph  Hertz  dis- 
covered the  progressive  propagation 
of  electro-magnetic  action  througli  space 
and  accomplished  the  most  valuable 
work  in  this  i^eriod  of  speculation  and 
experiment. 

Just  twenty  years  ago,  at  his  father's 
country  home  in  Bologna,  Gugliehno 
Marconi,  then  a  lad  just  out  of  his 
'teens,  read  of  the  experiments  of 
Hertz  and  conceived  the  first  wire- 
less telegraph  apparatus.  This  was 
completed  some  months  later  and  a 
message  in  the  Morse  Code  was  trans- 
mitted a  distance  of  three  or  four 
feet,  the  length  of  the  table  on  which 
the  apparatus  rested. 

Satisfied  that  he  had  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  an  epoch-making  discovery 
young  Marconi  pursued  his  experi- 
ments and  filed  the  first  patent  on  the 
subject  on  June  2,  1896.  Further 
experiments  were  carried  on  in  London 
during  that  year  and  at  the  request 
of  Sir  WiUiam  H.  Preece,  of  the  British 
Post  Office,  official  tests  were  made, 
first  over  a  distance  of  about  100 
yards  and  later  for  one  and  three- 
quarter  miles.  ' 

During  the  year  following  Mr.  Mar- 
coni gave  several  demonstrations  to 
the  officials  of  the  various  European 
governments  and  communication  was 
established  up  to  34  miles.  In  July 
of  this  year,  1897,  the  first  commercial 
wireless  telegraph  company  was  incor- 
porated in  England  and  the  first  Mar- 
coni station  was  erected  at  the  Needles, 
Isle  of  Wight. 

On  June  3,  1898,  Lord  Kelvin  visited 
this  station  and  sent  the  first  paid 
Marconi  gram.  A  month  later  the 
events  of  the  Kingstown  Regatta  in 
Dublin  were  reported  by  wireless  teleg- 
raphy for  a  local  newspaper  from  the 
steamer  "  Flying  Huntress."  In  August 
of  that  year  the  royal  yacht  "Osbom" 
was  equipped  with  a  wireless  set,  in 
order  that  Queen  Victoria  might  com- 
municate with  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  was  at  Lady^vood  Cottage  and 
suffering  from  the  results  of  an  acci- 
dent to  his  knee.  For  sixteen  days, 
constant  and  uninterrupted  communi- 
cation    was    maintained.       Then     on 


PREPARING   TO   SEND   MESSAGES    ACROSS    THE   OCEAN     45:^ 


This  photograph  shows  how  wireless  mes- 
sages are  prepared  for  direct  transmission 
across  the  ocean.  The  dots  and  dashes  of 
the  telegraphic  code  are  punched  on  tapes  by 
skilled  operators,  thus  insuring  accuracy  and 
a  permanent  record  of  each  message.  Five 
or  six  operators,  and  sometimes  more,  are 
steadily  preparing  these  tapes,  which  are 
pasted  together  and  run  through  a  machine 
which  operates  the  key  at  each  perforation. 
A  speed  of  lOO  words  a  minute  is  thus  ob- 
tained. 


Christmas  Eve  was  inaugurated  the 
first  lightship  wireless  service,  messages 
being  sent  from  the  East  Goodwin 
lightship  to  the  lighthouse  at  South 
Foreland. 

Three  months  later  the  first  marine 
rescue  was  effected  through  this  instal- 
lation. The  steamship  "  R.  F.  Mat- 
thews "  ran  into  the  lightship  and 
lifeboats  from  the  South  Foreland 
station  promptly  responded  to  the 
wireless  appeal  for  aid.  The  most 
important  wireless  event  abroad  dur- 
ing the  year  1899  was  the  establishing 
of  communication  across  the  English 
Channel,  a  distance  of  thirty  miles. 

The  American  public  next  learned 
something  of  Marconi's  invention,  for 
in  September  and  October  of  that  year 
wireless  telegraphy  was  employed  in 
reporting  the  International  yacht  races 
between  the  "Shamrock"  and  the  "Co- 
lumbia" for  a  New  York  newspaper. 
At  the  conclusions  of  the  races,  the  naval 


authorities  requested  a  series  of  trials, 
during  which  wireless  messages  were 
exchanged  between  the  cruiser  "  New 
York  "  and  the  battleship  "  Massa- 
chusetts "  up  to  a  distance  of  about 
36  miles.  On  leaving  America,  Marconi 
fitted  the  liner  "  St.  Paul  "  with  his 
apparatus  and  when  36  miles  from  the 
Needles  Station,  secured  wireless  re- 
ports of  the  war  in  South  Africa. 
These  were  printed  aboard  the  vessel  in 
a  leaflet  called  "  The  Transatlantic 
Times,"  the  first  of  the  chain  of  wire- 
less newspapers  now  published  daily 
on  practically  all  passenger  steam- 
ships. Six  field  wireless  sets  were  dis- 
patched to  South  Africa  about  this 
time  and  were  later  of  considerable 
service  in  the  Boer  War. 

The  year  1900  brought  the  first 
commercial  wireless  contracts.  By 
agreement  with  the  Norddeutscher 
Lloyd,  Marconi  apparatus  was  installed 
on  a  lightship,  a  lighthouse  and  aboard 
the  liner  "Kaiser  Wilhelm  der  Crosse." 
On  July  4th  the  British  Admiralty 
entered  into  a  contract  for  the  instal- 
lation of  Marconi  apparatus  on  thirty- 


In  tlie  f<jrc;^ri>unil  oi  this  pielurc  is  seen 
the  automatic  transmitter  with  the  message 
perforated  tape  running  through.  This  is 
one  of  the  smaller  wireless  equipments;  much 
larger  ones  ;ire  used  at  tlie  new  Marconi 
stations. 


454 


WORLD    WIDE   USE   OF   THE    WIRELESS 


two  warships  and  shore  stations  and 
the  erection  of  the  high  power  station 
at  Poldhu  was  commenced. 

Work  on  similar  station  at  Cape  Cod 
was  begun  early  in  1901  and  on  August 
12th  the  famous  Nantucket  Island  and 
Nantucket  Hghtship  stations  opened 
to  report  incoming  vessels  by  wire- 
less. Heavy  gales  in  September  and 
November  ^vrecked  the  masts  at  both 
Poldhu  and  Cape  Cod  stations  and  these 
were  replaced  by  four  wooden  towers, 
210  feet  high.  Important  experimental 
work  was  then  shifted  to  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland,  and  on  December  12th 
and  13th,  signals  were  received  across 
the  Atlantic  from  Poldhu.  This  to 
Marconi  was  a  great  achievement  and 
the  forerunner  of  the  present  day  trans- 
atlantic ser\ace.  But  with  the  an- 
nouncement that  the  long  dreamt  of 
feat  had  been  accomplished  a  flood 
of  vituperation  from  scientific  men 
was  let  loose.  It  was  nonsense;  it 
was  deliberate  deception;  the  reading 
was  in  error,  were  among  the  com- 
ments. Another  prank  of  the  "  yoimg 
man  with  a  box,"  one  scientist  termed 
it.  It  is  amusing  now  to  recall  this 
extraordinary  treatment,  but  it  was 
hardly  so  amusing  to  the  young  in- 
ventor, then  in  his  twenty-seventh  year. 

But  in  spite  of  the  skepticism,  de- 
velopments followed  rapidly  from  then 
on  and  in  1902,  the  year  in  which  the 
American  Marconi  Company  was  es- 
tablished, full  recognition  to  wireless 
telegraphy  was  given  by  the  various 
governments. 

The  wonderful  growth  of  the  Marconi 
system  within  the  last  twelve  years 
is  well  known  to  all  and  does  not  require 
detailing.  But  in  view  of  its  youth 
as  an  industry  and  its  inauspicious 
beginning,  a  glimpse  into  what  the 
present  day  Marconi  system  comprises 
may  be  interesting. 

More  than  1800  ships  are  equipped 
with  Marconi  wireless  and  its  shore 
stations  are  landmarks  in  practically 
every  country  on  the  globe. 

Press  and  commercial  messages  are 
transmitted  daily  from  continent  to 
continent  direct. 

Shore  to  ship  and  ship  to  shore  busi- 


ness each  year  runs  into  millions  of 
words. 

Marconi  wireless  within  seventeen 
years,  has  become  an  absolute  neces- 
sity in  the  maritime  field,  an  invaluable 
aid  in  others.  Regular  communica- 
tion has  been  established  with  icebound 
settlements  and  desert  communities, 
and  official  running  orders  transmitted 
to  moving  railway  trains.  Its  service 
is  dependable  under  all  conditions  and 
embraces  activities  and  locations  inac- 
cessible to  any  other  telegraph  system. 
Continuous  service  is  maintained  and 
wireless  messages  for  all  parts  of  the 
world  at  greatly  reduced  rates  are 
received  at  any  Western  Union  Office. 

The  direction  finder  and  wireless 
compass  are  recent  Marconi  inventions. 

A  wide  variety  of  types  of  Marconi 
equipment  are  designed  for  the  mer- 
chant marine,  warships,  submarines, 
pleasure  craft,  motor  cars  and  rail- 
road trains;  also  portable  signal  corps 
sets,  apparatus  for  aircraft,  cavalry 
sets,  knapsack  sets  and  high-power 
installations  for  trans-ocean  communi- 
cation. 

How  Does  a  Fly  Walk  Upside  Down? 

There  is  a  little  sucker  on  the  end  of 
each  of  the  fly's  feet  which  makes  his 
foot  stick  to  the  ceiling  or  any  other 
place  he  walks,  and  which  he  can  control 
at  will.  It  is  made  very  much  like 
the  sucker  you  have  seen  with  which  a 
boy  can  pick  up  a  flat  stone — a  circu- 
lar piece  of  rubber  or  leather  with  a 
string-  in  the  middle  and  more  or  less  bell 
shaped  underneath.  A  boy  can  pick  up  a 
flat  stone  with  this  kind  of  a  sucker  by 
pressing-  the  rubber  or  leather  part 
down  flat  on  the  stone  and  then  pulling 
gently  on  it  by  the  string.  W^hen  he 
docs  this  he  simply  expels  the  air  which 
is  between  the  leather  part  of  the  sucker 
and  the  stone,  which  creates  a  vacuum 
and  the  pressure  of  the  air  on  the  out- 
side part  of  the  leather  enables  him  to 
pick  it  up.  The  fly  has  little  suckers 
like  these  on  each  of  his  feet,  and  they 
act  automatically  when  he  puts  his  foot 
down.  Of  course  the  sticking  power  of 
each  foot  is  adjusted  to  the  weight  of 


HOW   MONEY   ORIGINATED 


455 


the  fly,  just  as  the  sticking  or  lifting 
power  of  the  boy's  sucker  is  regulated 
by  the  weight  of  the  stone  or  other  ob- 
ject he  tries  to  pick  up.  If  the  weight 
of  the  object  is  sufficient  to  overcome 
the  sticking  power  which  the  vacuum 
creates,  the  stone  cannot  be  lifted. 

What  Is  Money? 

It  is  quite  difficult  to  give  a  broad 
definition  of  money  that  will  be  under- 
stood by  all,  for  in  different  ages  and 
lands  many  things  have  been  used  as 
money  besides  the  coins  and  bills  which 
we  think  of  only  when  we  think  at  all 
what  money  is.  Anything  that  passes 
freely  from  hand  to  hand  in  a  com- 
munity in  the  payment  of  debts  and  for 
goods  purchased,  accepted  freely  by  the 
person  who  oft'ers  it  without  any  refer- 
ence to  the  person  who  offers  it,  and 
which  can  be  in  turn  used  by  the  person 
accepting  it  to  give  to  some  one  else  in 
payment  of  debt  or  for  the  purchase 
of  goods,  is  money.  This  is  rather  a 
long  sentence  and  perhaps  difficult  to 
understand,  and  so  we  will  try  to  ana- 
lyze what  this  means.  If  some  one  oi- 
fered  you  a  pretty  stone  as  money  in 
payment  of  a  debt,  it  would  be  as  good 
as  anv  kind  of  money  if  you  in  turn 
could  pass  it  on  to  any  other  person 
to  whom  you  owed  a  debt  or  In  payment 
of  something  you  bought.  The  stone 
might  appear  to  you  to  be  valuable  but 
it  would  not  be  good  money  unless  you 
could  count  on  every  one  else  in  the 
community  accepting  it  at  the  same 
value.  If  everybody  accepts  it  at  the 
same  value,  it  is  as  good  as  any  kind  of 
money.  So  that  anything  which  is  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people  in  any  community 
as  a  unit  of  value  to  pay  debts,  is  good 
money,  provided  everybody  thinks  so 
and  accepts  it  that  way.  In  this  case, 
then  any  kind  of  substance  might  be- 
come money  provided  it  was  used  and 
accepted  by  everyone. 

Why  Do  We  Need  Money? 

We  need  money  for  the  sake  of  the 
convenience  which  it  provides  in  mak- 
ing the  exchange  of  one  kind  of  wealtli 
for  anotlicr  and  as  a  standard  of  value. 


When  a  community  has  adopted  some- 
thing or  anything  which  is  regarded  by 
all  of  the  people  as  a  standard  of  value, 
all  of  the  difficulties  of  trading  disap- 
pear. 

Who  Originated  Money? 

The  earliest  tribes  of  savages  did  not 
need  money  because  no  individual  in 
the  tribe  owned  anything  personally. 
All  the  property  of  the  tribe  belonged 
to  the  tribe  as  a  whole  and  not  to  any 
particular  person.  Later  on,  when  dif- 
ferent groups  of  savages  came  into  con- 
tact with  each  other,  there  arose  the 
custom  of  bartering  or  exchanging 
things  which  one  tribe  possessed  and 
which  the  other  tribe  wanted.  In  that 
way  arose  the  business  of  trading  or  of 
what  we  call  doing  business,  and  soon 
the  need  of  something  by  which  to 
measure  the  values  of  different  things 
arose.  Some  of  the  old  Australian  tribes 
had  a  tough  green  stone  which  was 
valuable  for  making  hatchets.  Mem- 
bers of  another  tribe  would  see  some  of 
this  stone  and  notice  what  good  hatchets 
could  be  made  from  it — better  hatchets 
than  they  had  been  able  to  make.  Nat- 
urally they  wanted  it  so  much  that  it 
became  very  valuable  in  their  eyes  and 
so  they  came  wanting  to  buy  green 
stones.  But  they  had  nothing  like  what 
we  could  call  money  today.  They  had, 
however,  a  good  deal  of  red  ochre  in 
their  lands  which  they  used  to  paint 
their  bodies.  They  got  this  red  ochre 
out  of  the  ground  on  their  own  lands 
just  as  the  other  tribe  got  green  stones 
out  of  its  ground,  and  those  who  owned 
the  green  stones  which  were  good  for 
making  hatchets,  wanted  some  red 
ochre  very  much,  and  so  they  traded 
green  stones  for  red  ochre.  The  green 
stones  then  took  on  a  value  in  them- 
selves for  making  exchanges  for  vari- 
ous commodities,  and  before  long  be- 
came a  kind  of  money  inside  and  out- 
side the  community  so  that  when 
they  wanted  to  obtain  anything,  the 
price  was  put  by  the  merchant  as  so 
many  green  stones  and  he  accepted 
these  in  payment  for  goods  given  in  ex- 
change.    Tie  was  willing  to  do  this  be- 


456 


WHY   WE  USE   METALS   FOR   COINING 


cause  he  knew  he  could  use  them  in 
making  trades  for  almost  anything  he 
might  want,  provided  he  had  enough 
of  the  green  stones.  So  you  see  these 
green  stones  of  the  Australian  tribe 
became  a  rudimentary  kind  of  money, 
just  because  a  desire  had  arisen  to  pos- 
sess them ;  and  the  red  ochre  was  actual 
money  in  the  same  sense,  for  when  this 
tribe  found  that  other  tribes  would 
value  this  red  ochre,  they  began  getting 
the  things  they  wanted  and  paying  for 
them  in  red  ochre.  But  the  "unrt  of 
value"  had  to  be  developed  to  make  a 
currency  that  was  elastic.  It  required 
something  that  could  be  carried  about 
easily — in  fact  it  had  to  be  something 
small  enough  so  a  number  of  units 
of  value  could  be  carried  about  w^ithoiit 
too  much  trouble.  The  Indians  of 
British  Columbia  solved  this  difficulty 
of  making  an  elastic  currency  by  adopt- 
ing as  a  unit  of  value  a  haiqua  shell 
which  they  wore  in  strings  as  orna- 
mental borders  of  their  dresses — and 
one  string  of  these  shells  was  worth 
one  beaver's  skin.  These  shells  then 
were  real  money  and  one  of  the  earliest 
forms  of  it. 

The  skins  of  animals  were  long  used 
by  savage  tribes  as  money.  The  skins 
were  valuable  in  trading  and  a  man's 
fortune  was  reckoned  by  the  number  of 
skins  he  owned.  As  soon  as  the  ani- 
mals became  domesticated,  how-ever, 
the  whole  animal  replaced  the  skin  as 
the  unit  of  value.  This  change  un- 
doubtedly came  because  a  whole  animal 
is  more  valuable  than  only  its  skin.  The 
first  skins  obtainable  however  were 
worn  by  wild  animals — the  kind  that  the 
people  could  not  deliver  to  someone  else 
alive  and  whole.  But  when  the  animals 
became  domesticated,  which  meant  that 
man  tamed  them  and  kept  them  where 
he  could  control  them  at  will,  the  skin 
and  the  wild  animal  ceased  to  be  a  unit 
of  value  because  it  was  an  uncertain 
kind  of  money.  Among  domestic  ani- 
mals, oxen  and  sheep  were  the  earliest 
forms  of  money — an  ox  was  considered 
worth  ten  sheep.  This  idea  of  using 
cattle  as  money  was  used  by  many 
tribes  in  manv  lands.    We  find  traces  of 


it  in  the  laws  of  Iceland.  The  Latin 
word  pecunia  (pecus)  shows  that  the 
earliest  Roman  money  was  composed  of 
cattle.  The  English  word  fee  indicates 
this  also.  The  Irish  law  records  show 
the  same  evidence  of  the  use  of  cattle 
as  money  and  within  recent  years  the 
cattle  still  form  the  basis  of  the  cur- 
rency of  the  Zulus  and  Kaffirs. 

When  slavery  became  prominent 
many  lands  adopted  the  slaves  as  the 
unit  of  value.  A  man's  wealth  was 
reckoned  by  the  number  of  slaves  he 
owned. 

Then,  when  the  practice  of  agricul- 
ture became  more  common,  people  used 
the  products  of  the  soil  as  money — 
maize,  olive  oil,  cocoanuts,  tea  and 
corn — the  latter  is  said  to  pass  current 
as  actual  money  in  certain  parts  of  Nor- 
way now.  They  used  these  products  of 
the  soil  for  money  even  in  our  own 
country.  Our  ancestors  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia  before  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  even  after,  used  tobacco  as 
money.  They  passed  laws  making  to- 
bacco money  and  paid  the  salaries  of 
the  government  officials  and  collected 
all  taxes  in  tobacco. 

Other  early  forms  of  money  were  or- 
naments and  these  serve  the  purpose  of 
money  among  all  uncivilized  tribes.  In 
India  they  used  cowrie  shells — a  small 
yellowish-white  shell  with  a  fine  gloss. 
The  Fiji  Islanders  used  whales'  teeth ; 
some  of  the  South  Sea  Island  tribes 
used  red  feathers ;  other  nations  used 
mineral  products  as  money — such  as 
salt  in  Abyssinia  and  Mexico. 

Up  to  this  point  we  have  talked  about 
the  things  used  as  money  from  the 
standpoint  of  primitive  forms  of  monev. 
Today  the  metals  have  practically 
driven  all  these  other  crude  forms  of 
money  out. 

Metallic  Forms  of  Money. 

The  use  of  metals  as  money  goes  far 
back  in  the  history  of  civilization  but  it 
has  never  been  possible  to  trace  the  his- 
torical order  of  the  adoption  of  the 
various  metals  for  the  purposes.  Iron 
according  to  the  statement  of  Aristotle 


was  at  one  time  extensively  used  as 
money.  Copper,  in  conjunction  with 
iron,  was  used  in  early  times  as  money 
in  China;  and  until  comparatively  a 
short  time  ago  was  used  for  the  coins 
of  smaller  value  in  Japan.  Iron  spikes 
were  used  in  Central  Africa  and  nails 
in  Scotland ;  lead  money  is  now  used  in 
Burmah.  Copper  has  long  been  used 
as  money.  The  early  coins  of  England 
were  made  of  tin.  Finally,  however, 
came  silver  and  silver  was  the  prin- 
cipal form  of  money  up  to  a  few  years 
ago.  It  was  the  basis  of  Greek  coins 
introduced  at  Rome  in  269  B.  C.  Most 
of  the  money  of  Medieval  times  was 
composed  of  silver. 

The  earliest  traces  of  gold  used  as 
money  is  seen  in  pictures  of  ancient 
Egyptians  "weighing  in  scales  heaps  of 
gold  and  silver  rings." 

Why  Do  We  Use  Gold  and  Silver  as 

Money  Principally? 

There  are  a  good  many  reasons  why 
gold  and  silver  have  become  almost  uni- 
versal materials  for  use  as  money.  Per- 
haps this  will  be  better  understood  if 
these  reasons  are  set  down  in  order. 

1st.  It  is  necessary  that  the  material 
out  of  which  money  is  made  should  be 
valuable,  but  nothing  was  ever  used  as 
money  that  had  not  first  become  desir- 
able and,  therefore,  valuable  as  money. 
This  is  only  one  of  the  incidental  rea- 
sons for  taking  gold  and  silver  for  coin- 
ing money. 

2nd.  To  serve  its  purpose  best, 
money  should  be  easy  to  carry  around — 
in  other  words,  its  value  should  be  high 
in  proportion  to  its  weight. 

The  absence  of  this  quality  made  the 
early  forms  of  money  such  as  skins, 
corn,  tobacco,  etc.,  undesirable.  It  was 
difficult  to  carry  very  much  money  about. 
Imagine  the  skin  of  a  sheep  worth  a 
dollar,  say,  and  having  to  carry  ten  of 
them  down  to  pay  the  grocer.  To  a 
certain  extent  this  difficulty  occurred 
with  iron  and  copper  money  and  in 
times  when  they  used  live  cattle  it  was  a 
pretty  expensive  job  to  pay  your  debts 
because,    while   the   cattle   could   move, 


it  was  still  expensive  to  drive  them  from 
place  to  place.  A  man  who  accepted  a 
thousand  cattle  in  payment  had  to  go  ro 
some  expense  in  getting  them  home. 
Then  it  was  expensive  to  have  money 
when  live  cattle  were  used  because  the 
cattle,  of  course,  had  to  be  fed  and  from 
that  point  of  view  the  poor  man  who 
had  no  money  was  better  off  than  the 
rich  man  who  had  money.  When  cattle 
were  used  as  money  it  cost  a  lot  to  keep 
it.  Our  kind  of  money  doesn't  eat  any- 
thing in  fact,  if  you  put  it  in  a  savings 
bank,  it  will  earn  interest  money  for 
you.  But  when  cattle  were  used  as 
money  it  cost  a  great  deal  to  keep  them 
and  so  it  was  worse  than  not  earning 
any  interest. 

3rd.  Another  quality  that  money 
should  possess  is  divisibility  without 
damage  and  also  the  quality  of  being 
united  again.  This  quality  is  possessed 
by  the  metals  in  every  sense  because 
they  can  be  fused,  while  skins  and 
precious  stones  suffer  in  value  greatly 
when  they  are  divided. 

4th.  The  material  out  of  which 
money  is  made  should  be  the  same 
throughout  in  quality  and  weight  so 
that  one  unit  of  money  should  be  worth 
as  much  as  any  other  unit.  This  could 
never  be  true  of  skins  or  cattle  as  the 
difference  in  the  size  of  skins  is  very 
great  sometimes,  and  a  small  skin  from 
the  same  animal  could  not  be  worth  as 
much  as  a  large  one,  or  a  skin  of  an 
animal  of  inferior  quality  so  valuable 
as  a  very  fine  one. 

5th.  Another  quality  which  money 
should  possess  is  durability.  This  re- 
quirement made  it  necessary  to  use 
something  else  besides  animals  or  vege- 
table substances.  Animals  die  and 
vegetables  will  not  keep  and  so  lose 
their  value.  Even  iron  is  apt  to  rust 
and  through  that  process  lose  more  or 
less  of  its  value. 

6th.  The  materials  out  of  which 
money  is  made  should  be  easy  to  dis- 
tinguish and  their  value  easy  to  deter- 
mine. For  this  reason  such  things  as 
precious  stones  arc  not  good  to  use  as 
mnncy    because    it    takes   an    expert   to 


458 


HOW  THE   NAME   UNCLE  SAM   ORIGINATED 


determine  their  value  and  even  they  are 
not  always  certain  to  be  correct. 

7th.  Then  a  very  important  quality 
that  the  material  out  of  which  money 
is  made  is  tliat  its  value  should  be 
steady.  The  value  of  cattle  varies  very 
greatly  and,  in  fact,  most  of  the  ma- 
terials out  of  which  the  first  currencies 
were  made  were  subject  to  quick 
change  in  value  in  a  short  time.  The 
value  of  gold  and  silver  does  not  change 
excepting  at  long  intervals.  Gold  and 
silver  are  both  durable  and  easily  recog- 
nizable. They  can  be  melted,  divided 
and  united.  The  same  is  true  of  other 
metallic  substances,  but  iron  as  stated 
is  subject  to  rust  and  its  value  is  low; 
lead  is  too  soft.  Tin  will  break,  and 
both  of  them  and  copper  also  are  of 
low  value.  Gold  and  silver  change 
only  slowly  in  value  when  the  change 
at  all;  they  do  not  lose  any  of  their 
value  by  age,  rust  or  other  cause ;  they 
are  hard  metals  and  do  not,  therefore, 
wear.  Their  value  in  proportion  to  the 
bulk  of  the  pieces  used  for  money  is  so 
large  that  the  money  made  from  them 
can  be  carried  without  discomfort  and 
it  is  almost  impossible  to  imitate  them. 

Who  Made  the  First  Cent? 

\'ermont  was  the  first  state  to  issue 
copper  cents.  In  June,  1785,  she 
granted  the  authority  to  Ruben  Har- 
mon, Jr.,  to  make  money  for  the  state 
for  two  years.  In  October  of  the  same 
year,  Connecticut  granted  the  right  to 
coin  10,000  pounds  in  copper  cents, 
known  as  the  Connecticut  cent  of  1785. 
Massachusetts,  in  1786,  established  a 
mint  and  coined  $60,000  in  cents  and 
half  cents.  In  the  same  year,  Xew 
Jersey  granted  the  right  to  coin  $10,000 
at  15  coppers  to  the  shilling.  In  1781 
the  Continental  Congress  directed  Rob- 
ert Morris  to  investigate  the  matter  of 
governmental  coinage.  He  proposed  a 
standard  based  on  the  Spanish  dollar, 
consisting  of  100  units,  each  unit  to  be 
called  a  cent.  His  plan  was  rejected. 
In  1784,  Jefferson  proposed  to  Congress, 
that  the  smallest  coin  should  be  of 
copper,   and  that  200  of  them   should 


pass  for  one  dollar.  The  plan  was 
adopted,  but  in  1786,  100  was  substi- 
tuted. In  1792  the  coinage  of  copper 
cents,  containing  264  grains,  and  half 
cents  in  proportion,  was  authorized ; 
their  weight  was  subsequently  reduced. 
In  1853  the  nickel  cent  was  substituted 
and  the  half  cent  discontinued,  and  in 
1864  the  bronze  cent  was  introduced, 
weighing  48  grains  and  consisting  of  95 
per  cent,  of  copper,  and  the  remainder 
of  tin  and  zinc. 

How  Did  the   Name   Uncle   Sam   Orig- 
inate ? 

The  name  Uncle  Sam  is  a  jocular 
name  long  in  use  for  the  Government 
of  the  United  States. 

Shortly  after  the  war  of  1812  was  de- 
clared, Elbert  Anderson  of  New  York 
State,  who  was  a  contractor  for  the 
army,  went  to  Troy,  New  York,  to  pur- 
chase a  quantity  of  provisions.  At  that 
place  the  provisions  were  inspected,  the 
oi^cial  inspectors  being  two  brothers 
named  Wilson — Ebenezer  and  Samuel. 
The  latter  w-as  very  popular  among  the 
men  and  was  known  as  "Uncle  Sam 
Wilson"  and  everybody  called  him  that. 
The  boxes  in  which  the  provisions  were 
packed  were  stamped  with  four  letters, 
E.  A.  for  Elbert  Anderson,  and  U.  S. 
for  United  States.  One  of  the  men 
engaged  in  making  the  inspection  asked 
another  of  the  workmen  who  happened 
to  be  a  jocular  fellow,  what  the  letters 
E.  A.  U.  S.  on  the  boxes  stood  for.  He 
said  in  reply  that  he  did  not  know  but 
thought  they  probably  meant  Elbert 
Anderson  and  Uncle  Sam  Wilson,  and 
that  they  had  left  off  the  W  which 
would  stand  for  Wilson.  The  sugges- 
tion caught  on  quickly  and  as  such 
things  often  do,  the  joke  spread  rapidly 
so  that  everybody  soon  thought  of  the 
name  "Uncle  Sam"  whenever  they  saw 
the  letters  U.  S.  on  anything  or  in  any 
place. 

The  suit  of  striped  trousers  and  long 
tailed  coat  and  beaver  hat  in  w^hich 
Uncle  Sam  is  now  always  represented 
in  pictures,  was  the  inspiration  of  the 
famous  cartoonist. 


THE   WORLD'S   BREAD   LOAVES 


459 


Egypt 

2500  B.C.      Unleavened  Bread 
2000  B.C. 


Pompeii 
50  AD. 


Palestine 


"%'lA 


-3 


Endland 


Modern  American  Loaf 


m' 


'"•"'^^iJiiMiii^S^ 


Endland 


.^^'rs 


Austria 


Germany 


Balkan  States 


460 


WHERE  BREAD  COMES   FROM 


a.               I 

,,^ 

m           .^ 

^MM 

ai 

1^ 

,      '1 

--^.^^ 

^J^H 

HARVESTING   WHEAT. 


The  Story  in  a  Loaf  of  Bread 


Why  is  Bread  so  Important? 

The  history  of  bread  as  a  food  reads 
like  a  romance.  It  has  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  destinies  of  man- 
kind and  its  struggles  through  the 
ages  to  perfection.  The  progress  of 
nations  through  their  different  periods 
of  development  can  be  traced  by  the 
quality  and  quantity  of  bread  they  have 
used. 

No  other  food  has  taken  such  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  civilization  of  man. 

To  a  large  extent  it  has  been  the 
means  of  changing  his  habits  from  those 
of  a  savage  to  those  of  a  civilized 
being.  It  has  supplied  the  peaceful 
pursuits  of  agriculture  and  turned  him 
from  war  and  the  chase. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the 
civilized  and  the  semi-ci\'ilized  people 
of  the  earth  can  be  di\4ded  into  two 
classes,  based  upon  their  principal 
cereal  foods:  the  rice  eaters  and  the 
bread  eaters. 

Even,'  one  admits  that  rice  eaters 
are  less  progressive,  while  bread  eaters 


have  always  been  the  leaders  of  civili- 
zation. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  just  as 
Japan  is  changing  from  a  rice-eating 
nation  to  a  bread-eating  nation  she  is 
asserting  her  power. 

Any  one  who  stops  to  consider  the 
history  of  nations  will  see  that  this 
matter  of  what  we  eat  is  the  one  ques- 
tion of  vital  importance. 

Bread  is  one  of  the  earliest,  the  most 
generally  used  and  one  of  the  most 
important  foods  used  by  man.  With- 
out bread  the  world  would  not  exist 
without  great  hardship.  On  bread 
alone  a  nation  of  people  can  exist,  and 
to  sit  down  to  a  meal  without  it  causes 
us  to  feel  at  once  that  something  is 
missing. 

What  Was  the  Origin  and  Meaning  of 

Bread  ? 

Bread  is  baked  from  many  substances, 
although  when  we  think  of  bread,  we 
usuallv    think    of    wheat    bread.      It 


THE  DIFFERENCE   IN  GRAHAM  AND  WHOLE  WHEAT  BREAD  461 


is  sometimes  made  from  roots,  fruits 
and  the  bark  of  trees,  but  generally 
only  from  grains  such  as  wheat,  rye, 
com,  etc.  The  word  bread  comes  from 
an  old  word  hray,  meaning  to  pound. 
This  came  from  the  method  used  in 
preparing  the  food.  Food  which  was 
pounded  was  said  to  be  brayed  and 
later  this  spelling  was  changed  to  bread. 
Properly  speaking,  however,  these 
brayed  or  ground  materials  are  not 
really  bread  in  our  sense  of  using  the 
term  tmtil  they  are  moistened  mth 
water,  when  it  becomes  dough.  The 
word  dough  is  an  old  one  meaning  to 
"  moisten."  This  dough  was  in  olden 
times  immediately  baked  in  hot  ashes 
and  a  hard  indigestible  limip  of  bread 
was  the  resiilt.  Accidentally  it  was 
discovered  that  if  the  dough  was  left 
for  a  time  before  baking,  allowing  it  to 
ferment,  it  would  when  mixed  with 
more  dough,  swell  up  and  become 
porous.  Thus  we  got  our  word  loaf 
from  an  old  word  lifian,  which  meant 
to  raise  up  or  to  lift  up. 

When  Was  Wheat  First  Used  in  Mak- 
ing Bread? 

It  is  not  clearly  known  when  or  by 
whom  wheat  was  discovered,  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  known  from  the 
earliest  times.  It  is  mentioned  in 
the  Bible,  can  be  traced  to  ancient 
Egypt  and  there  are  records  showing 
that  the  Chinese  cultivated  wheat  as 
early  as  2700  B.C.  To-day  it  .supplies 
the  principal  article  for  making  bread 
to  all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world. 

The  origin  of  the  wheat  plant  is 
said  to  have  been  a  kind  of  grass  which 
is  given  a  Latin  name  Mgilops  ovata 
by  the  botanists. 

Will  Wheat  Grow  Wild? 

This  is  a  question  that  has  puzzled 
the  world's  scientists  for  more  than 
two  thousand  years.  From  time  to 
time  it  has  been  reported  by  investiga- 
tors in  various  parts  of  the  world  that 
here  and  there  wheat  has  been  found 
growing  wild  and  doing  well,  but  every 
time  a  further  investigation  is  made. 


it  develops  that  the  wheat  has  been 
cultivated  by  some  one.  There  is  as 
yet  no  evidence  for  believing  that 
wheat  will  grow  in  a  wild  state. 

What   is   the   Difference   between   Gra- 
ham Flour  and  Whole   Wheat? 

Graham  flour  from  which  Graham 
bread  is  baked  is  made  from  unbolted 
flour.  The  process  of  bolting  flour, 
which  is  described  in  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  consists  briefly  in  taking 
out  of  it  all  but  the  inside  of  the  grain 
of  wheat.  When  this  has  been  done, 
we  have  pure  white  flour. 

In  making  Graham  flour  ever>^  part 
of  the  grain  of  wheat  is  left  in  the  flour, 
and  ground  up  flnely.  Many  people 
think  that  Graham  flour  is  made  from 
a  special  grain  called  Graham,  but  this 
is  not  true.  It  is  said  that  Graham 
bread  is  not  so  good  for  j^ou  because  it 
contains  the  outside  covering  of  the 
wheat  grain  or  bran  which  is  composed  of 
almost  pure  silica,  the  same  substance 
of  which  glass  is  made,  and  cannot 
therefore  be  good  for  us. 

Whole  wheat  flour  is  made  from  the 
whole  grain  of  wheat  from  which  the 
outside  covering  or  bran  has  been 
separated.  It  contains  everything  but 
the  bran  and  is  therefore  the  most 
nutritious  flour  made. 

The  grain  of  wheat  has  several 
coverings  of  bran  coats,  the  outer  one 
of  which  is  the  one  composed  of  silica, 
and  which  is  not  valuable  as  food. 
Underneath  this  husk  -  are  found  the 
inner  bran  coats,  which  contain  the 
gluten.  Gluten  is  a  dark  substance 
containing  the  flesh-fonning  or  nitrog- 
enous elements,  which  are  valuable 
in  muscle  building.  The  inside  or 
heart  of  the  grain  of  wheat  consists 
of  cells  filled  with  starch,  a  fine  white 
mealy  powder  which  has  little  value  as 
food,  but  is  a  great  heat  producer. 
Sometimes  in  making  whole  wheat 
flour,  the  heart  of  the  grain  is  also 
removed,  making  a  pure  gluten  flour. 
The  name  whole  wheat  for  flour  is  not 
accurate,  therefore,  for  Graham  flour 
is  made  of  the  whole  wheat  grain,  while 
"  whole  wheat  "  flour  is  made  of  only 
certain   parts   of   the   grain   of  wheat. 


462 


HOW  FLOUR    IS  MADE 


Wheat  conditioners  for  tempering  the  wheat   before  being  ground  by    the  corrugated  roller 

mills. 


How  is  Flour  Made? 

In  threat  factories  the  raw  material 
is  frequently  taken  in  at  one  end  and 
comes  out  of  the  opposite  end  as  a 
finished  locomotive,  a  Pullman  palace 
car,  or  a  pair  of  shoes.  There  is  no 
such  progression  in  making  flour.  The 
wheat  comes  in  at  one  place  as  a  plain 


Spring  or  Winter  wheat  and  at  another 
goes  out  as  flour,  but  in  the  process  parts 
of  it  may  go  from  top  to  bottom  of  the 
big  mill  30  times.  Instead  of  a  factory 
where  everything  moves  along  from 
hand  to  hand  or  machine  to  machine, 
the  flour  mill  is  like  a  human  body — a 
huge  framework  like  the  bones,  with 
thousands  of  carrying  devices,  "  eleva- 


SEPARATING   THE  WHEAT  FIBER  AND   GERMS  463 


Purifier  for  separating  the  fiber,  germ,  and  other  impurities  from  the  semolina  (grits)  before  it 
is  finally  crushed  or  ground  into  flour  by  smooth  roller  mills. 


tors,"  "  spouts  "  and  "  conveyors," 
like  the  veins  and  arteries  of  the  blood- 
carrying  system.  Stop  up  a  vein  of 
wheat,  the  mill  becomes  clogged,  and 
finally  must  shut  down  if  it  cannot  be 
mechanically  relieved.  It  is  an  intricate 
and  intensely  interesting  process,  the 
result  of  year-to-year  experience. 

Scouring      that     Suggests      a      Dutch 

Kitchen. 

From  the  storage  bins  the  wheat  is 
drawn  off  through  conveyors  to  the 
first  of  several  cleaning  processes,  the 
"  separators,"  where  the  coarse  grain 
which  naturally  comes  with  the  wheat, 
such  as  com  and  oats,  and  imperfect 
kernels  of  wheat,  is  taken  out.  After 
this  general  cleaning  the  grain  goes 
to  the  "  scouring  machine,"  which 
is  an  interesting  device — a  rapidly 
revolving  cylinder  with  what  are  called 
"  beaters "     attached.     The    grain    is 


thrown  against  perforated  iron  screens 
Any  clinging  dirt  is  loosened,  and  a 
strong  current  of  air  passing  through  the 
cylinder  is  constantly  "  calling  for  dust," 
as  the  miller  aptly  expresses  it,  and 
carries  the  impurities  away  as  dust  and 
dirt.  Indeed,  the  cleaning  process 
seems  to  be  a  constant  one  from  the  time 
the  wheat  enters  the  mill  until  the  flour 
is  made.  Having  been  cleansed,  the 
wheat  is  now  ready  for  the  rolls  except 
for  a  "  tempering  "  process,  which  is 
to  prepare  the  grain,  so  that  the  out- 
side of  the  wheat  may  be  taken  off 
without  injury  to  the  inside  or  kernel. 

Then  as  the  grain  i)asscs  to  the  rolls 
there  begins  a  gradual  reduction  of 
wheat  to  flour  which  is  most  intricate. 

The  first  sets  of  rolls  arc  corrugated 
and  so  adjusted  as  to  "  break  "  each 
grain  of  wheat  into  12  to  15  parts. 
The  "breaking"  process  goes  on  through 
five  different  sets  of  rolls. 


464 


GRINDING   THE  WHEAT    FOR   MAKING    FLOUR 


Corrugated  roller  mills  for  grinding  the  wheat  after  it  has  been  cleaned. 


Wooden  spouts  for  conveying  the  difTerent  products,  bran  and  partly  ground  wheat,  from  one 

machine  to  another. 


THE  FLOUR  IS  READY  FOR  BAKING 


465 


Gyrating  sifter  for  separating  the  bran  particles  from  the  flour  and  semolina. 


The  Big  Bolters  with  Silken  Sieves. 

Closely  allied  with  the  rolling  process 
is  the  bolting  process,  which,  working 
hand  in  hand  with  it  has  made  modern 
flour  making  so  perfect.  The  bolting 
process  consists  of  a  series  of  sieves 
— a  sifting  of  the  broken  grain  so  that 
it  is  finally,  after  repeated  breaking  and 
sifting,  a  flour.  The  bolter  machine 
contains  a  number  of  sieves  covered 
with  silk  bolting  cloth  with  varying 
mesh  or  number  of  threads  to  the 
square  inch.  This  bolting  machine, 
moving  rapidly,  makes  from  8  to  lo 
different  separations  of  the  material. 
From  rolls  to  bolters,  from  bolters  to 
Ijurifiers,  from  purifiers  to  rolls,  over 
and  over,  the  process  continues,  until 
five  different  grades  of  "  middlings  " 
have  been  selected  by  the  mechanical 
hands  of  the  millers.  The  purifier 
is  still  another  step  to  the  process.  It 
is  a  machine  having  eight  sieves  of 
different  mesh.  The  "  middlings  " 
flow  down  over  the  different  sieves  in  a 


thin  sheet,  a  current  of  air  meantime 
drawing  all  impurities  out.  With  this 
purifying  process  completed,  the  mate- 
rial is  ready  for  the  smooth  rolls. 


The  Mill  Tries  to  Catch  Up  with  the 
Bins. 

When  the  flour  is  made  it  is  conveyed 
to  large  round  bins — five  sheets  of  hard 
wood  pressed  together.  These  bins 
are  being  filled  all  the  time  and  being 
emptied  all  the  time,  the  mill  being 
about  seven  hours  behind  the  capacity 
of  the  bins,  so  that  from  start  to  finish 
the  modem  flour  mill  is  a  tremendously 
busy  place. 

Underneath  the  bins  and  connecting 
with  them  arc  the  flour  packers — 
automatic  devices  which  pack  a  2>h- 
-pound  paper  sack  as  accurately  as  a 
196-pound  barrel.  The  filled  i)ackages 
are  sent  down  "  chutes  "  to  the  shijj- 
ping  floor.  There  they  go  to  wagons 
or  through  other  chutes  to  boats. 


466 


WHERE   LEAD  PENCILS  COME  FROM 


The   Story  in   a  Lead   Pencil 


Why  Do  They  Call  Them  Lead-pencils? 

The  lead-pencil  so  generally  used  to- 
day is  not,  as  its  name  would  imply, 
made  from  lead,  but  from  graphite.  It 
derives  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
prior  to  the  time  when  pencils  were 
made  from  graphite,  metallic  lead  was 
employed  for  the  purpose.  Graphite 
was  first  used  in  pencils  after  the  dis- 
covery in  1565  of  the  famous  Cumber- 
land mine  in  England.  This  graphite 
was  of  remarkable  purity  and  could  be 
used  without  further  treatment  by 
cutting  it  into  thin  slabs  and  encasing 
them   in   wood. 


Who   Made   the   First   Lead-pencils   in 
America  ? 

For  two  centuries  England  enjoyed 
practically  a  monopoly  of  the  lead-pen- 
cil industry.  In  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, however,  the  lead-pencil  industry 
had  found  its  way  into  Germany.  In 
1761,  Caspar  Faber,  in  the  village  of 
Stein,  near  the  ancient  city  of  Nurem- 
berg, Bavaria,  started  in  a  modest 
way  the  manufacture  of  lead-pencils, 
and  Nuremberg  became  and  remained 
the  center  of  the  lead-pencil  industry 
for   more   than   a   century.     For   five 


generations  Faber's  descendants  made 
lead-pencils.  Up  to  the  present  day 
they  have  continued  to  devote  their  in- 
terest and  energy  to  the  devlopment 
and  perfection  of  pencil  making.  Eber- 
hard  Faber,  a  great-grandson  of  Cas- 
])ar  Faber,  immigrated  to  this  country, 
and,  in  1849,  estabhshed  himself  in 
New  York  City.  In  1861,  when  the 
war  tariff  first  went  into  effect,  he 
erected  his  own  pencil  factory  in  New 
York  City,  and  thus  became  the  pio- 
neer of  the  lead-pencil  industry  in  this 
country.  Since  then  four  other  firms 
have  established  pencil  factories  here. 
Wages,  as  compared  to  those  paid  in 
Germany,  were  very  high,  and  Eber- 
hard  Faber  realized  the  necessity  of 
creating  labor-saving  machinery  to 
overcome  this  handicap.  Many  auto- 
matic machines  were  invented  which 
greatly  simplified  the  methods  of  pen- 
cil making  and  improved  the  product. 
To-day  American  manufacturers  sup- 
ply nine-tenths  of  the  liome  demand 
and  have  largely  entered  into  the  com- 
petition of  the  world's  markets. 

What  Are  Lead-pencils  Made  of? 

The    principal    raw    materials    that 
enter  into  the  making  of  a  lead-pencil 


*  Courtesy  of  The  Scientific  American. 


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FIG.    I. 


FIG.   2. 


FIG.   3. 


Fig.  I  shows  the  shape  in  which  the  cedar  slats  arrive  at  the  factory.  These 
slats  after  grading  are  boiled  in  steam  to  remove  what  remaining  sap  there  may 
be  in  the  wood.  The  slats  are  then  dried  in  steam-drying  rooms.  Then  the  next  step 
is  grooving  and  gives  the  results  shown  by  Fig.  2.  Now  the  wood  is  ready  to  receive 
the  "leads"  (which  you  will  remember  are  a  mixture  of  graphite  and  clay),  which  are 
placed  between  two  slats  sandwich  fashion,  glued,  put  in  forms  that  hold  them  over 
night  under  a  thousand  pounds  pressure.  Fig.  3  shows  the  leads  laid  in  one  of  the 
grooved   slats. 


are  graphite,  clay,  cedar  and  rubber. 
Although  graphite  occurs  in  com- 
paratively abundant  quantities  in  many 
localities,  it  is  rarely  of  sufficient  pur- 
ity to  be  available  for  pencil  making. 
Oxides  of  iron,  silicates  and  other  im- 
purities are  found  in  the  ore,  all  of 
which  must  be  carefully  separated  to 
insure  a  smooth,  serviceable  material. 
The  graphites  found  in  Eastern  Si- 
beria, Mexico,  Bohemia  and  Ceylon 
are  principally  used  by  manufacturers. 

How  Are  Lead-pencils  Made? 

The  graphite,  as  it  comes   from  the 
mines,  is  broken  into  small  pieces,  the 


impure  particles  being  separated  by 
hand.  It  is  then  finely  divided  in  large 
pulverizers  and  placed  in  tubs  of 
water,  so  that  the  lighter  particles  of 
graphite  float  off  from  the  heavier  par- 
ticles of  impurities.  This  separating, 
in  the  cheaper  grades,  is  also  done  by 
means  of  centrifugal  machines,  but  the 
results  arc  not  as  satisfactory.  After 
separation,  the  graphite  is  filtered 
through  fdter-presses. 

What   Makes   Some   Pencils   Hard   and 
Others  Soft? 

The    clay,    after    having    been    sub- 
jected  to   a   similar   process,   is   placed 


Pictures  by  courtesy  Joseph  Dixon  Crucible  Co. 


468    WHAT  MAKES  SOME  PENCILS  SOFT  AND   OTHERS  HARD 


FIG.   4. 


FIG.   5. 


Fig.  4  shows  a  prospective  view  of  the  block  as  it  appears  when  taken  out  of  the 
form;  the  leads  can  be  seen  in  the  end.  These  blocks  are  fed  to  machines  which  cut 
out  tile  pencils  in  one  operation.  An  idea  of  this  operation  is  given  by  Fig.  5,  which 
shows  a  block  half  cut  through.  The  pencils  come  out  quite  smooth,  but  are  sand- 
papered to  a  finer  finish  before  receiving  the  tinishing  coats.  The  finer  grades  of  pencils 
are  given  from  seven  to  nine  coats  of  varnish  before  being  passed  along  for  the  next 
process.  Fig.  6  shews  a  pencil  after  it  has  been  machined  and  before  it  has  been 
varnished  and  stamped. 


in  mixers  with  the  graphite,  in  propor- 
tions dependent  upon  the  grade  of 
hardness  that  is  desired.  A  greater 
proportion  of  clay  produces  a  greater 
degree  of  hardness;  a  lesser  propor- 
tion increases  the  softness. 

Furthermore,  the  requisite  degree  of 
hardness  is  obtained  by  the  subsequent 
operation,  viz.,  the  compressing  of  the 
lead  and  shaping  it"  into  form  ready  to 
be  glued  into  the  wood  casings.  A 
highly  compressed  lead  will  produce  a 
pencil  of  greater  wearing  qualities,  an 
important  feature  in  a  high-grade  pen- 
cil. Hydraulic  presses  are  used  for 
this  purpose;  and  the  mixture  of  clay 
and  graphite,  which  is  still  in  a  plastic 


condition  and  has  been  formed  into 
loaves,  is  placed  into  these  presses.  The 
presses  are  provided  with  a  die  con- 
forming to  the  caliber  of  the  lead  de- 
sired, through  which  die  the  material 
is  forced.  The  die  is  usually  cut  from  a 
sapphire  or  emerald  or  other  very  hard 
mineral  substance,  so  that  it  will  not 
wear  away  too  quickly  from  the  fric- 
tion of  the  lead.  The  lead  leaves  the 
press  in  one  continuous  string,  which  is 
cut  into  the  lengths  required  (usually 
seven  inches  for  the  ordinary  size  of 
pencil),  is  placed  in  crucibles,  and  fired 
in  muffle  furnaces.  The  lead  is  now 
ready  for  use,  and  receives  only  a 
wooden  case  to  convert  it  into  a  pencil. 


HOW  THE  ERASER    IS    PUT  ON   A   PENCIL 


469 


Where    Does    the    Wooden    Part    of    a 
Lead-pencil  Come  from? 

The  wood  used  in  pencil  making 
must  be  close  and  straight  grained, 
soft,  so  that  it  can  readily  be  whittled, 
and  capable  of  taking  a  good  polish. 
No  better  wood  has  been  found  than 
the  red  cedar,  a  native  of  the  United 
States,  a  durable,  compact  and  fra- 
grant wood  to-day  almost  exclusively 
used  by  pencil  makers  the  world  over. 
The  best  quality  is  obtained  from  the 
Southern  States,  Florida  and  Alabama 
in   particular. 

The  wood  is  cut  into  slats  about  7 
inches  long,  2^  inches  wide,  and  ^ 
inch  thick.  It  is  then  thoroughly  dried 
in  kilns  to  separate  the  excess  of  moist- 
ure and  resin  and  to  prevent  subse- 
quent warping.  After  this  the  slats 
are  passed  through  automatic  grooving 
machines,  each  slat  receiving  six  semi- 
circular grooves,  into  which  the  leads 
are  placed,  while  a  second  slab  with 
similar  grooves  is  brushed  with  glue 
and  covered  over  the  slat  containing 
the  leads.  This  is  passed  through  a 
molding-machine,  which  turns  out  pen- 
cils shaped  in  the  form  desired,  round, 
hexagon,  etc.  The  pencils  are  now 
passed  through  sanding  machines,  to 
provide  them  with  a  smooth  surface. 

How  is  the   Color  Put  on  the   Outside 
of  the  Pencil? 

After  sand-papering,  which  is  a 
necessary  preliminary  to  the  coloring 
process,  when  fane  finishes  are  desired, 
the  pencils  are  varnished  by  one  of  sev- 
eral methods.  That  most  commonly 
employed  is  the  mechanical  method  by 
which  the  pencils  are  fed  from  hop- 
pers one  at  a  time  through  small  aper- 
tures just  large  enough  to  admit  the 
pencil.  The  varnish  is  applied  to  the 
pencil  automatically  while  passing 
through,  and  the  pencils  are  then  de- 
posited on  a  long  belt  or  drying  pan. 
They  are  carried  slowly  a  distance  of 
about  twenty  feet,  the  varnish  de- 
posited on  the  pencils  meanwhile  dry- 


ing, and  are  emptied  into  a  receptacle. 
When  sufficient  pencils  have  accumu- 
lated, they  are  taken  back  to  the  hop- 
per of  the  machine  and  the  operation 
repeated.  This  is  done  as  often  as  is 
necessary  to  produce  the  desired  fin- 
ish. The  better  grades  are  passed 
through  ten  times  or  more.  Another 
method  is  that  of  dipping  in  pans  of 
varnish,  the  pencils  being  suspended 
by  their  ends  from  frames,  immersed 
their  entire  length  and  withdrawn  very 
slowly  by  machine.  A  smooth  enam- 
eled effect  is  the  result.  The  finest 
grades  of  pencils  are  polished  by  hand. 
This  work  requires  considerable  deft- 
ness ;  months  of  practice  are  necessary 
to  develop  a  skilled  workman.  After 
being  varnished,  the  pencils  are  passed 
through  machines  by  which  the  accu- 
mulation of  varnish  is  sand-papered 
from  their  ends.  The  ends  are  then 
trimmed  by  very  sharp  knives  to  give 
them  a  clean,  finished  appearance. 

Stamping  is  the  next  operation.  The 
gold  or  silver  leaf  is  cut  into  narrow 
strips  and  laid  on  the  pencil,  where- 
upon the  pencil  is  placed  in  a  stamping 
press,  and  the  heated  steel  die  brought 
in  contact  with  the  leaf,  causing  the 
latter  to  adhere  to  the  pencil  where 
the  letters  of  the  die  touch.  The  sur- 
plus leaf  is  removed,  and,  after  a  final 
cleaning  the  pencil  is  ready  to  be 
boxed,  unless  it  is  to  be  further  em- 
bellished by  the  addition  of  a  metal 
tip  and  rubber,  or  other  attachment. 

How  is  the  Eraser  Put  On  a  Pencil? 

In  this  country  about  nine-tenths  of 
the  pencils  are  provided  with  rubber 
erasers.  These  are  either  glued  into 
the  wood  with  the  lead,  or  the  pencils 
are  provided  with  small  metal  ferrules 
threaded  on  one  end,  into  which  the 
rubber  eraser-plugs  are  inserted.  These 
ferrules  are  made  from  sheet  brass, 
which  is  cuj)ped  by  means  of  power 
presses,  drawn  through  subsequent  op- 
erations into  tubes  of  four-  or  five- 
inch  lengths,  cut  to  the  required  size, 
threaded   and   nickel-plated. 


470 


WHERE   COTTON   COMES   FROM 


Courtesy  of  Doubleday.  Page  &  Co. 
A  SOUTHERN  COTTON  FIELD 


The  Story  in  a  Bale  of  Cotton 


Where  Does  Cotton  Come  From? 

We  get  cotton  from  a  plant  ^vhich 
grows  best  in  the  warm  climate  of  our 
Southern  States.  Cotton  has  been 
known  to  the  people  of  the  world  for 
a  long  time.  Before  the  birth  of 
Christ  people  knew  about  cotton. 
They  thought  it  was  wool  which  grew 
on  a  tree  instead  of  a  sheep's  back. 
No  other  plant  is  of  such  value  to 
man  as  cotton.  We  should  learn 
something  about  a  plant  that  is  used 
by  man  in  so  many  ways  as  cotton. 
'  The  cotton  plant  of  our  Southern 
States  is  a  small  shrub-like  annual 
about  four  feet  high.  The  flowers  of 
the  cotton  plant  are  white  at  first  but 
change  to  cream  color  and  then  are 
tinged  with  red.  This  change  takes 
place  over  a  period  of  four  days  when 
the  petals  drop  off  and  leave  what  is 
called  a  "boll"  in  the  calyx  of  the 
flower.  This  boll,  which  is  to  contain 
the  cotton,  is  really  the  seed  container 
of  the  cotton  plant  and  keeps  on  grow- 
ing larger  until  it  is  about  as  big  as 
a  hen's  egg.     When  it  is   fully  grown 


or  ripe  the  boll  cracks  and  the  seeds 
and  fibrous  lint  burst  forth.  The  bolls 
are  then  gathered  and  taken  to  a  cot- 
ton gin,  where  the  seeds  are  separated 
from  the  lint  and  the  Hnt  prepared  for 
weaving. 

The  boll  is  divided  into  from  three 
to  five  sections.  Each  section  contains 
a  quantity  of  Hnt  and  seeds.  When  the 
boll  is  fully  grown  the  covering  of 
each  of  the  sections  cracks  and  opens 
up,  revealing  the  contents.  It  is  just 
like  opening  the  door  of  each  section 
and  having  the  contents  burst  out. 
When  these  bolls  burst  open,  there  is 
no  more  beautiful  sight  in  the  world 
than  to  look  out  over  a  cotton  field 
and  see  the  colored  people — the  "cot- 
ton pickers" — busy  at  their  work  pick- 
ing oft'  the  bolls. 

^Mien  the  crop  is  gathered  and 
ginned,  the  lint  is  packed  into  bales  and 
taken  to  the  cotton  mill,  where  it  is 
made  into  cloth.  One  of  the  most  in- 
teresting industrial  processes  in  the 
world  is  to  see  the  bale  of  cotton  go 
into  a  cotton  mill  and  come  out  a  piece 
o^  cotton  goods. 


THE  COTTON  ARRIVES  AT  THE  MILL 


471 


BALES   OF  COTTON   AT   LiilluN    MILL 


OPENING   MACHINES. 

The  bales  are  opened,  and  the 
cotton  is  thrown  into  the  large 
hoppers  at  the  front  of  these 
machines,  which  open  and  loosen 
the  fibers,  work  ont  Inmps  and 
remove  the  grosser  impurities, 
such  as  dirt,  leaf,  seed  and  trash. 
A  strong  air  draft  carries  off  the 
dust  and  foreign  particles,  and 
lifts  the  cotton  through  trunks 
to  the   floor   above. 


LAPPER     MACHINES. 

In  these  machines,  known  as 
P>reaker  and  Finisher  Lappers, 
more  of  the  trash  and  impurities 
is  beaten  out  of  the  cotton,  and 
the  lint  is  carried  forward  and 
wound  into  rolls  of  cotton  bat- 
ting, known  as  laps.  Several  of 
these  are  doubled  and  flrawn  into 
one  so  as  to  get  the  weight  of 
each  yard  as  uniform  as  possible. 


472 


FIRST   STEPS   IN   MAKING    COTTON    CLOTH 


CARD    ROOM. 

In  tlicsc  machines,  known  as 
Revolving  l-"lat  Top  Cards,  the 
cotton  passes  over  revolving  cyl- 
inders clothed  with  wire  teeth, 
and  the  ril)crs  are  comhed  out  and 
laid  parallel  with  each  other. 
They  are  delivered  at  the  front 
of  the  machine  as  a  filmy  web, 
which  is  gathered  together  and 
formed  into  a  soft  downy  ribbon 
or  rope,  known  as  card  sliver. 
This  is  automatically  coiled  and 
delivered  into  cans. 


PRAWIXG    FRAMES. 

To  insure  uniformity  in  weight, 
so  that  the  yarn  when  spun  shall 
run  even,  the  card  slivers  are 
doubled  and  drawn  out,  redoubled 
and  again  drawn  out,  somewhat 
in  the  manner  of  a  candy  maker 
pulling  taffy,  only  here  the  process 
is  continuous.  Six  strands  of  the 
card  sliver  are  fed  in  together  at 
the  back  of  the  drawing  frames, 
pulled  out  and  delivered  as  one ; 
and  the  process  repeated.  This 
produces  a  sliver  more  uniform 
in  weight,  and  in  which  the  fibres 
are  more  parallel. 


SLUBBERS. 

The  sliver  from  the  drawing 
frames  is  taken  to  machines 
called  slubbers,  where  again  the 
fibers  are  drawn  out,  and  the 
strand  of  cotton,  now  much  finer 
and  known  as  slubber  roving,  is 
given  a  bit  of  twist  to  hold  it 
together,  and  is  wound  on  large 
bobbins. 


PUTTING   THE   COTTON    FIBER  ON   BOBBINS 


473 


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474 


THE  COTTON    IS   READY  FOR   DYEING 


Two  kinds  of  yarn  are  de- 
livered at  the  spinning  frames, 
known  as  warp  and  tilling,  which 
make  respectively  the  lengthwise 
and  crosswise  threads  of  the 
cloth.  The  filling  is  in  its  com- 
pleted form  ready  for  the  loom ; 
the  warp  must  first  be  gotten  into 
shape  for  dyeing  and  then  ar- 
ranged in  parallel  rows  or  sheets 
of  tliread  for  weaving.  The  first 
of  these  processes  is  spooling,  and 
consists  simply  in  unwinding  the 
yarn  from  the  small  bol)bins  on 
which  it  is  spun,  and  rewinding 
it  on   large   spools. 


The  spools  of  warp  yarn  are 
placed  in  large  wooden  racks  or 
creels  from  which  they  can  con- 
veniently unwind.  The  separate 
threads  are  drawn  through  little 
wires  in  the  warpers,  and  are 
gathered  into  a  bunch  or  rope  of 
threads,  which  is  wound  in  a  large 
cylindrical  ball  known  as  a  warp. 
If  any  thread  breaks  while  pass- 
ing through  the  warper,  the  little 
wire  drops  and  stops  the  machine. 
In  this  way  full  count  of  threads 
and  uniform  weight  of  the  goods 
is  insured. 


DYE-HOUSE. 

Here  the  warps,  after  being 
boiled  and  softened  to  enable  the 
dye  to  penetrate,  are  passcfl 
through  'the  indigo  vats.  Several 
runs  are  made  to  get  the  beauti- 
ful depth  of  color.  This  Dye- 
house  is  equipped  with  one  hun- 
dred indigo  vats,  and  is  one  of 
the  best-lighted  and  cleanest-kept 
dye-houses  in  the  world. 


WHERE  THE  COTTON  IS  WOVEN  INTO  CLOTH 


475 


BEAMING   FRAMES. 

After  being  dyed,  the  warps  are 
washed  and  then  passed  through 
drying  machinery,  from  which 
they  are  dehvered  in  coils.  These 
are  brought  to  the  beaming 
frames,  where  they  are  again 
spread  out  into  sheets  of  parallel 
tlireads,  and  passed  through  the 
teeth  of  a  steel  comb,  which 
separates  the  threads  and  prevents 
tangling,  and  in  this  form  they 
are  wound  on  huge  iron  spools 
known  as  slasher  beams. 


SLASHERS. 

From  the  beaming  frames  the 
warps  are  taken  to  machines 
known  as  Slashers,  where  they 
are  sized  or  stiffened  to  enable 
them  to  stand  the  chafing  at  the 
looms  incidental  to  the  process 
of  weaving.  The  slasher  beams 
are  placed  in  an  iron  frame  at 
the  back  of  the  slashers  and  un- 
wound together  through  the  ma- 
chine. With  them  some  additional 
threads  of  white  yarn  are  un- 
wound at  either  side  to  form  the 
selvage  of  the  cloth. 


WEAVE    ROOM. 

The  sheet  of  warp  threads  un- 
winds from  the  loom  beam,  re- 
ceives the  filling  threads  and  is 
wound  into  a  roll  of  cloth  at 
the  front  of  the  loom.  This 
weave  room  contains  2000  looms. 
Jt  is  004  feet  long  by  180 
feet  wide  (about  four  acres)  and 
is  the  largest  single  weave  room 
in  the  world.  Overhead  is  the 
rnof,  which  forms  one  vast  sky- 
light, being  of  what  is  known  as 
saw-tooth  construction.  The  ver- 
tical sides  of  the  teeth  all  face 
duo  north  and  are  formed  of 
ribbed  glass,  which  affords  the 
most  perfect  light  to  every  section 
of  the  room. 


476 


THE   COTTON   CLOTH    FINISHED 


INSPECTING  TABLES. 

Before  goins  to  tlio  l)alinH 
presses  every  yard  of  cotton  clotli 
passes  under  tlie  vigilant  eyes  of 
the  cloth  inspectors,  who  mark  as 
seconds  and  lay  aside  all  pieces 
containing  imperfections.  This  in- 
si)ection  is  not  a  mere  formality, 
but  is  conducted  most  carefully, 
and  this  department  is  specially 
located  to  get  the  best  and  most 
perfect  light. 


BALING     PRESSES. 

The  bolts  of  finished  cloth 
are  now  placed  in  presses  and 
made  into  bales  of  linished  cloth 
and  are  ready  for  the  market. 


Shipping  platform  of  the  While 
Oak  Mills,  Grecnsl)oro,  N.  C, 
showing  how  the  bales  of  finished 
cloth    are    handled    in    shipping. 


Pictures  herewith  by  courtesy  of  White  Oak  Mills. 


AMOUNT  OF  CLOTH  IN  ONE  POUND  OF  COTTON 


477 


Who  Discovered  Cotton? 

Just  who  discovered  cotton  is  not 
known.  The  early  records  are  so  in- 
complete that  no  individual  can  be 
credited  with  the  discovery  of  the  value 
of  this  wonderful  plant.  Long  before 
Caesar's  time,  among  the  Hindoos  they 
had  a  law  that  if  you  stole  a  piece  of 
cotton  you  were  fined  three  times  its 
value.  Most  of  the  early  nations  were 
familiar  with  cotton — the  early  Egyp- 
tians, Chinese  and  other  ancient  people 
used  it  and  valued  it. 

What     Nation      Produces     the      Most 
Cotton? 

The  United  States  is  the  leader  in 
the  production  of  cotton,  as  in  many 
other  important  world  products.  We 
produce  more  than  seventy-five  per 
cent  of  all  the  cotton  grown  in  the 
world.  The  remainder  is  practically 
all  grown  by  East  India,  Egypt  and 
Brazil. 

What  is  Cotton  Used  For? 

The  cotton  plant  is  one  of  the  won- 
der plants  of  the  world,  when  you  stop 
to  think  how  well  we  could  get  along 
without  wool  or  silk  or  other  fabrics 
if  we  had  to. 

Little  would  be  lost  to  the  world  so 
far  as  actual  comfort  is  concerned  if 
all  of  the  other  fabric-making  mate- 
rials were  lost.  We  would  sleep,  as 
we  often  do  now,  in  beds  the  cover- 
ings of  which  were  pure  cotton,  in  a 
room  in  which  the  rugs  w^ere  woven 
from  cotton,  the  sun  kept  out  of  the 
room  by  cotton  window  shades.  We 
could  still  have  plenty  of  good  soap 
to  wash  our  bodies  and  clothing,  for 
much  of  our  soap  to-day  is  made  from 
cotton-seed  oil ;  then  we  could  use  a 
cotton  towel  to  dry  ourselves ;  and  put 
on  a  complete  outfit  of  clothing  made 
entirely  of  cotton.  White  cotton  table 
cloths  anrl  napkins  are  not  so  fine  as 
linen  ;  they  are  good  enough  for  any- 
one. Your  breakfast  rolls  will  taste 
quite  as  well  if  baked  with  cottolene 
instead  of  lard  ;  the  meat  for  your  din- 
ner would  be  fed  and  fattened  on  cot- 
ton-seed meal  and  hulls  as  they  are 
now ;  you  would  have  butter  made 
from  cotton-seed  that  compares   favor- 


ably with  the  butter  you  now  have  on 
the  table ;  the  tobacco  in  your  cigar 
would  continue  to  be  grown  under  cot- 
ton cloth  and  packed  in  cotton  bags ; 
armies  would  still  sleep  under  cotton 
tents  and  could  use  gun-cotton  to  de- 
stroy the  enemy. 

What  Are  the  Principal  Cotton  Cloths? 
There  are  a  great  many  different 
names  given  to  cotton  cloths,  but  they 
may  in  general  be  divided  into  five 
classes — plain  goods,  twills,  sateen, 
fancy  cloth  and  jacquard  fabrics.  The 
cotton  cloth  in  each  of  these  classes 
varies  and  goes  by  different  names. 
For  instance,  in  Plain  Goods,  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  are  lawn,  nainsook, 
sheeting,  mull,  print  cloth,  madras. 
The  difference  lies  in  the  number  of 
threads  in  one  inch  of  width,  the  fine- 
ness and  the  weave.  The  Twills  have 
lines  running  diagonally  and  are  used 
for  linings  mostly.  The  difference  is 
in  the  weaving.  Denim,  largely  used 
for  overalls,  belongs  to  the  class  of 
Twills.  Sateen  is  used  for  dress  lin- 
ings, dresses  and  waists.  Then  there 
is  the  class  of  Fancy  Cloths  which  is 
another  kind  of  weave  used  largely  in 
children's  clothes,  shirt  waists,  etc., 
and  under  the  name  Scrim  is  fine  for 
draperies  and  towelling.  The  other 
class,  Jacquard  Fabrics,  represents  the 
most  complicated  form  of  weaving  and 
used  largely  under  special  individual 
names  or  brands  for  dress  goods,  nov- 
elties, etc. 

How  Much  Cotton  Cloth  Will  a  Pound 

of  Cotton  Make? 

When  the  cotton  is  spun  into  yarn 
it  is  no  longer  sold  by  the  bale,  but 
by  the  pound.  It  is  impossible  to  make 
an  exact  statement  of  the  amount  of 
cotton  cloth  one  pound  of  cotton  yarn 
will  make,  because  of  the  difference 
in  weaving.  It  has,  however,  been 
figured  out  that  a  ]>ound  of  cotton  yarn 
should   make 

y/2  yards  of  sheeting,  or 

3-)4  yards  of  muslin,  or 

9/^  yards  of  lawn,  or 

7/^  yards  of  calico,  or 

53^  yards  of  gingham,  or 

57  spools  of  thread. 


478 


HOW  THE   MUSIC  GETS    INTO  THE   PIANO 


Picture   by    courtesy    Browne    &    Howell    Co. 
CHRISTOFORI    PIANO    FROM     THE     METROPOLITAN    MUSEUM    OF   ART,    NEW    YORK    CITY. 


The  Story  in  a  Piano 


What  is  Music? 

Music  is  one  kind  of  sound.  All 
sounds,  whether  musical  or  not,  are 
the  result  of  sound  waves  in  the  air. 
They  travel  almost  exactly  like  the 
waves  of  the  water.  They  go  in  circles 
in  all  directions  at  the  same  speed  and 
will  go  on  forever  unless  they  meet 
something  that  has  the  ability  to  stop 
them.  If  you  drop  a  pebble  into  the 
exact  center  of  a  basin  of  water,  you 
will  see  the  ring  of  waves  produced 
start  from  the  point  where  the  ]')ebble 
entered  the  water  and  travel  to  the 
sides  of  the  vessel,  which  stop  them. 
Also  the  pebble  as  it  falls  into  the 
water  will  make  ring  after  ring  of 
waves. 

When  you  shout  or  ring  or  strike 
one  of  the  keys  of  the  piano  you  start 
a  sound  wave  or  a  series  of  them, 
which  you  can  hear  as  soon  as  the 
sound  wave  strikes  your  ear.  When 
the    series    of    waves    is    regular    the 


sound  produced  is  a  musical  sound, 
and  when  the  sound  waves  are  not 
regular  in  length  we  call  it  some  other 
kind  of  a  sound. 

Acting  on  the  knowledge  so  learned, 
man  has  devised  numerous  instruments 
with  which  he  can  produce  musical 
sounds,  such  as  the  piano,  phonograph, 
and  many  others. 

Who  Made  the  First  Piano? 

The  first  real  piano  was  made  by 
Bartolomeo  Christofori,  an  Italian. 
He  invented  the  little  hammers  by  the 
aid  of  which  the  strings  are  struck, 
giving  a  clear  tone  instead  of  the 
scratching  sound  which  all  the  previous 
instruments  produced.  It  took  two 
thousand  years  to  discover  the  value 
of  the  little  hammers  in  making  clearer 
notes.  His  first  piano  was  made  in 
1709.  The  word  by  which  we  call  the 
instrument  pianoforte  has,  however, 
been  traced  back  as  far  as  1598,  when 


it  is  said  to  have  been  originated  by 
an  Italian  named  Paliarino.  The  first 
piano  made  in  America  was  produced 
by  John  Behnud,  in  Philadelphia,  in 
1775- 

How  Was  the  Piano  Discovered? 

The  piano  is  a  stringed  musical  in- 
strument. The  name  pianoforte  comes 
from  two  Italian  words  meaning  soft 
and  loud,  and  is  accurately  descriptive 
of  the  piano  because  the  notes  can  at 
will  be  made  soft  or  loud.  The  piano 
is  a  development  of  the  simplest  form 
of  making  regular  sound  vibrations  by 
snapping  or  hammering  a  string  of 
some  kind  which  is  stretched  tight  and 
fastened  at  both  ends.  We  must  go 
far  back  into  history  to  find  the  earliest 
traces  of  stringed  instruments,  and 
even  then  we  do  not  know  where  and 
when  they  originated,  for  there  seem 
to  be  no  records  which  help  us  to  trace 
their  origin.  We  know  that  the 
Eg}^ptians  as  far  back  as  525  B.C.  had 
stringed  instruments,  but  we  only  know 
they  had  them — not  where  they  got 
them  or  who  made  them.  There  is  a 
legend  that  the  Roman  god  Mercury, 
while  walking  along  the  Nile  after  the 
river  had  overflowed  its  banks  and  the 
land  had  again  become  dry,  stubbed  his 
toe  on  the  shell  of  a  dead  tortoise.    He 


picked  it  up  to  cast  it  aside  and  acci- 
dentally touched  some  strings  of  sinew 
with  his  finger.  These  strings  were 
only  what  remained  of  the  once  live 
tortoise.  At  the  same  time  Alercury 
heard  a  musical  note  and,  after  vainly 
trying  to  find  a  cause  for  the  musical 
sound,  twanged  the  string  again  and 
discovered  the  music  in  tightly- 
stretched  strings.  He  set  about  mak- 
ing an  instrument,  using  the  tortoise 
shell  for  the  sound  box  and  stretching 
a  number  of  strings  of  sinew  across  it. 
This  is  only  a  legend,  of  course,  but 
if  we  examine  the  early  musical  instru- 
ments of  the  Greeks,  which  was  the 
lyre,  we  always  find  the  representation 
of  a  tortoise  upon  it. 

Other  nations,  such  as  the  early 
Chinese,  the  Persians,  the  Hindus  and 
the  Hebrews,  had  stringed  instruments 
much  resembling  the  lyre.  In  the 
tombs  of  the  great  rulers  of  Egypt  are 
found  representations  of  harps,  and 
one  harp  which  had  been  buried  in  one 
of  the  tombs  for  more  than  3000  years 
was  actually  found  to  be  in  good  con- 
dition. 

Wherever  we  search  among  the  rec- 
ords of  early  nations  we  find  evidence 
that  they  were  familiar  Avith  the  music 
obtainable  from  playing  upon  stringed 
instruments,   but   we   have   never  been 


Picture   by    courtesy    IJrowne   &    Howell    Co. 
DULCIMER. 


480 


THE   FIRST   STRiNGHD   MUSICAL    INSTRUMENT 


able  to  discover  what  people  or  what 
persons  first  learned  that  music  could 
be  produced  with  such  instruments. 

The  harp  was  probably  the  first 
practical  stringed  instrument.  Its 
music  was  produced  by  picking  the 
strings  with  the  fingers  or  with  a  piece 
of  bone  or  metal. 

The  next  step  was  the  ])saltery, 
which  was  produced  in  the  ^Middle 
Ages.  It  was  a  box  with  strings 
stretched  across  it  and  represented  the 
first  crude  attempt  at  using  a  sounding 
board.  A  larger  instrument  which  came 
about  the  same  time  and  was  very  like 


wliich  picked  the  strings.  The  elder 
]:>ach  composed  his  music  on  the  clavi- 
chord, his  favorite  instrument,  and  that 
is  why  the  music  written  by  Bach  is 
full  of  soft  and  melancholy  notes.  The 
clavichord  produced  only  such  notes. 

The  next  steps  brought  the  virginal, 
spinet  and  harpsichord.  The  strings 
on  all  three  were  of  brass  with  (luills 
at  the  key  ends  for  picking  the  strings. 
The  virginal  and  spinet  were  very 
much  alike.  The  harpsichord  was 
larger  and  sometimes  was  made  with 
two  keyboards.  These  instruments  had 
notes  covering  four  octaves  only. 


Picture   by    courtesy    Browne   &   Howell   Co. 
CLAVICHORD. 


the  psaltery,  was  the  dulcimer.  Both 
were  played  by  picking  the  strings  with 
the  finger  or  a  small  piece  of  bone  or 
other  substance. 

Then  came  the  keyboard,  first  used 
on  stringed  instruments  in  what  is 
called  the  clavicytheriiim.  This  con- 
sisted of  a  box  with  cat-gut  strings 
ranged  in  a  semitriangle.  On  the  end 
of  each  key  was  a  quill,  which  picked 
the  string  when  the  key  was  operated. 

After  this  came  the  clavichord.  It 
was  built  like  a  small  square  piano 
without  legs.  The  strings  were  made 
of  brass  and  on  the  end  of  each  key 
was    a    wedge-shaped    piece    of    brass 


The  arrangement  of  the  strings  in 
the  harpsichord  provided  one  stej) 
nearer  to  our  piano.  It  had  five  oc- 
taves of  notes  and  there  were  at  least 
two  strings  to  each  note  instead  of  only 
one,  as  in  previous  instruments. 

Why  Do  We  Have  Only  Seven  Octaves 
On  a  Piano?  Why  Not  Twelve  or 
More  Octaves? 

Ordinarily  the  longest  key-board  of 
the  piano  has  seven  octaves  and  three 
notes  in  addition,  or  52  notes,  not 
counting  the  sharps  and  flats.  An  oc- 
tave you,  of  course,  know  consists  of 
the   seven   notes    C   D    E   F   G   A   B. 


WHY   OUR   PIANO   HAS   ONLY   SEVEN   OCTAVES 


481 


Picture    by    courtesy    Browne    &    Howell    Co. 
SPINET. 

Every  eighth  note  is  a  repetition  of  the 
one  seven  notes  below  or  above.  The 
reason  that  there  are  no  more  notes 
or  octaves  on  the  piano  is  that  if  we 
extended  the  key-board  either  way  one 
or  two  octaves  more,  we  shonld  not  be 
al)le  to  hear  the  notes  strnck  on  the 
keys.  There  would  be  sound  produced, 
or  course,  but  the  vibrations  would  be 
too  fine  for  the  human  ear  to  hear.  It 
is  said  that  the  range,  of  the  human 
ear  does  not  go  beyond  somewhere  be- 
tween eleven  and  twelve  octaves. 


Picture  by   courtesy   Browne   S:   Howell    Co. 
UPRIGHT     HARPSICHORD. 
(From     the     Metropolitan     Museum     of     Art,     New 
York    City.) 


7. 


1 


P'^i^^^,^^.::.^^ 


.  ^» 


Picture  by   courtesy   Browne   &   Howell    Cc 

QUEEN  Elizabeth's  virginal. 


482 


HOW  THE   MUSIC   GETS   INTO   THE   PIANO 


Photo   by   Kohlcr   &   Campbell   Piano    Co. 

PUTTING    ON    THE     SOUNDING     BOARD. 

The  nist  operation  in  producing  the  piano  is  to  make  a  wooden  frame  or  back  on  which  is  attached 
first    the    sounding   board,    then    the    iron,    harp-shaped    frame    to    which    the    strings    are    fastened. 

i  he  tones  of  the  piano  are  produced  by  felt-covered  hammers  striking  the  strings.  The  sounding 
board,    which    is    made    of    wood,    magnities    the    tones. 

riiis    picture    shows    the    mechanics   glueing    the    sounding   board    to    the    back. 


Photo   by    Kohler   &    Campbell    I'iano    Co. 


FASTENING     THE     STRINGS. 


The  strings  are  hitched  on  to  pins  in  the  iron  frame  at  its  lower  end  and  fastened  at  the  upper 
end  by  a  rnetal  pin  or  peg  driven  into  the  back.  The  peg  is  square  on  top,  so  that  it  can  be  turned 
with  a  tuning  hammer  or  wrench  in  order  to  tighten  or  slacken  the  strings,  which  is  the  operation  of 
tuning    the    piano. 


THE  LITTLE  HAMMERS  WHICH  STRIKE  THE  PIANO  STRINGS  483 


to   by   Kohler    &.    Campbell    Piano    Co. 

BUILDING     THE     CASE     AROUND     THE     SOUNDING     BOARD. 

As    soon    as    the    sounding    board    with    its    iron    frame    and    strings    is    complete,    the    outside    case    is 
built    up   around    it,    the    front   being    left   open  to   receive   the   action    and    key-board. 


C  aiii|>..i.il    I'lano    Co. 


ATTACHING     THE     LITTLE     HAMMERS     THAT     STRIKE     THE     STRINGS. 


Ill  this  picture  the  workmen  are  placinjj  the  action  and  keys,  to  which  are  attached  the  little 
wooden  felt-covered  hammers,  which  will  strike  the  strings  and  produce  the  tones.  It  took  a  great 
many  years  for  our  musical  instrument  makers  to  hit  upon  the  idea  of  using  these  little  hammers, 
and    thus   make    the    piano    a    perfect    instrument. 


48-4 


RI£QULATINCj   the    ACTION    OF   THl:    PIANO 


I'hulo   by    Kohler   &   Campbell    I'iano   Co. 
REGULATING    THE    ACTION     AND     KEYBOARD. 

This    picture    shows    the    piano    partly    assembled    and    the    workmen    adjusting    each    little    black    and 
white   key    to    the    proper   touch. 


ino   Co. 


ruLISHING     AND     FINISHING. 


The     piano    is    now    complete     except    for     polishing    and    tuning.       The     tuning    is    left     to  the    last. 

The    tuner    must    have    a    good    ear    for    music.      With    his    key    he    tightens    or    loosens    each    of  the    pegs 

to    which    the    wires    are    attached    until    it    is    perfectly    in    tune    and    all    in    harmony.      The  piano    is 
now    ready    to    play    upon. 


How  Sounds  Are  Produced. 

If  you  look  closely  at  a  tuning  fork, 
or  a  piano  string,  while  it  is  sounding, 
you  can  see  that  it  is  swinging  rapidly 
to  and  fro,  or  vibrating.  Touch  it  with 
your  finger  and  thus  stop  its  vibration 
and  it  no  longer  produces  sound.  The 
only  difference  that  you  can  discover 
in  the  fork  or  string  when  sounding 
and  when  silent  is  that  when  you  stop 
the  motion  it  is  silent  and  when  it  vi- 
brates it  makes  a  sound.  From  this  we 
learn  that  the  sounds  are  due  to  the  vi- 
brations of  sounding  bodies.  This  has 
been  proven  by  the  examination  of  so 
many  sounding  bodies  that  we  believe 
that  all  sounds  are  produced  by  vibra- 
tions. 

The  question  that  next  presents  it- 
self is,  how  the  vibrations  affect  our 
ears,  so  as  to  produce  the  sensation  of 
hearing.  This  may  be  made  clear  by  a 
very  simple,  but  striking,  experiment. 
If  a  bell  w^hich  has  been  arranged  to 
be  rung  by  clock-work  is  suspended 
under  the  receiver  of  an  air  pump,  and 
the  air  pumped  out,  the  sound  of  the 
bell  will  grow  faint  as  the  quantity 
of  air  in  the  receiver  decreases,  and 
finally  will  stop  completely.  By  look- 
ing through  the  glass  of  the  receiver, 
however,  the  bell  may  be  seen  ringing 
as  vigorously  as  at  first.  We  learn  thus 
that  the  air  around  a  sounding  body 
plays  an  important  part  in  the  trans- 
mission of  the  vibrations  to  our  ears. 
The  way  in  which  the  air  acts  in  trans- 
mitting the  vibrations  is  as  follows.  At 
each  vibration  of  the  sounding  body,  it 
compresses,  to  a  certain  degree,  a  layer 
of  air  in  front  of  it.  This  layer,  how- 
ever, does  not  remain  compressed,  for 
riir  is  very  elastic,  and  the  compressed 
air  soon  expands,  and  in  doing  so  com- 
jjrcsses  a  layer  of  air  just  beyond  it. 
This  layer  expands  in  its  turn,  and  com- 
])rcsses  another  layer  still  further  from 
the  body.  In  this  way  waves  of  com])res- 
sion  are  sent  through  the  air,  at  each 
vibration,  in  all  directions  from  the  vi- 
brating body. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  particles 
of  air  travel  all  the  way  from  the  vibrat- 


ing body  to  the  ear  when  a  sound  is 
heard.  Each  particle  of  air  travels  a 
very  short  distance,  never  any  further 
than  the  vibrating  body  moves  in  mak- 
ing a  vibration,  and  the  movement  of 
the  air  particles  is  a  vibratory  one,  like 
that  of  the  sounding  body.  But  the  par- 
ticles of  air  near  the  sounding  body 
communicate  their  vibrations  to  other 
particles,  further  from  that  body,  and 
these,  in  turn,  to  others  still  further 
away,  so,  while  the  particles  of  air 
themselves  move  very  short  distances, 
the  waves  produced  by  their  vibrations 
may  be  made  to  travel  a  considerable 
distance. 

The  size  of  a  sound  wave  ordinarily 
is  very  small,  but  sound  waves  are 
sometimes  made  of  such  size  and 
strength  as  to  strike  our  ears  with  a 
force  sufficient  to  rupture  the  ear  drum. 
Such  large  and  forceful  waves  come 
during  explosions,  such  as  the  dis- 
charges of  cannon  or  the  explosions  of 
large  quantities  of  gunpowder  under 
any  conditions. 

What  Is  Sound? 

From  what  has  already  been  said, 
you  will  probably  answer  that  sounds 
are  waves  in  the  air,  which  produce 
the  sensation  of  hearing.  This  is  cor- 
rect, but  sound  is  not  limited  to  vibra- 
tions of  the  air.  Other  elastic  sub- 
stances can  be  made  to  vibrate  in  the 
same  way,  and  iihe  waves  so  produced 
when  conveyed  to  our  ears,  produce  the 
sensation  of  hearing.  If  you  put  your 
ear  under  water  and  then  strike  two 
stones  together  in  the  water  you  will 
hear  a  sound  as  readily  as  you  would 
in  air.  .Sound  waves  may  be  transmitted 
by  solid  bodies  also,  and  some  of  these 
are  better  for  this  purpose  than  air  or 
liquids.  Perhaj^s  you  have  tried  the 
experiment  of  placing  your  ear  against 
one  of  the  steel  rails  on  a  railroad  track 
to  listen  for  the  coming  of  a  distant 
train.  If  you  have  tried  this,  you  know 
that  a  soimd  that  is  too  faint,  or  is  made 
too  far  away,  to  be  heard  through  the 
air,  can  ca.sily  be  heard  through  the  rail. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  other  sub- 
stances   th.'in    air   can    be    thrown    into 


waves  that  will  afifect  the  sense  of  hear- 
ing, we  may  define  sound  as  vibrations 
in  any  elastic  object,  that  produces  the 
sensation  of  hearing. 

The  definition  is  sometimes  called  the 
physical  definition  of  sound,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  physiological  definition 
of  sound  which  is  given  as  the  sensa- 
tion produced  when  vibrations  in  elas- 
tic substances  are  conveyed  to  our  ears. 
You  will  see  then  that  sound  when  re- 
ferring to  the  physical  definition  is 
what  makes  sound  known  in  the  phys- 
iological definition.  The  term  sound 
alone,  without  qualifications,  may  have 
either  meaning,  and  therefore  state- 
ments concerning  sound  may  be  mis- 
leading, unless  we  are  exact  in  explain- 
ing the  sense  in  which  the  word  is 
used. 

Hovsr  Fast  Does  Sound  Travel? 

When  a  sound  is  made  close  to  us, 
it  reaches  our  ears  so  quickly  that  it 
seems  as  though  it  took  no  time  to 
travel ;  but  when  a  gun  is  fired  by  a 
person  at  a  distance,  you  will  notice 
that  after  you  see  the  flash  of  the  gim, 
a  little  time  elapses  before  the  sound 
reaches  your  ear.  It  takes  a  little  time 
for  the  light  from  the  flash  to  get  to 
your  eyes,  but  a  very  short  time,  which 
you  cannot  appreciate.  Sound  travels 
much  more  slowly  and  the  time  it  takes 
to  travel  a  few  hundred  yards  is  no- 
ticeable. Accurate  measurements  of 
the  speed  of  sound  have  been  made,  and 
it  has  been  found  that  sound  usually 
travels  in  air  at  a  speed  of  about  eleven 
hundred  feet  a  second.  The  speed  is 
not  always  the  same,  however,  for  a 
number  of  circumstances  may  cause  it 
to  vary.  In  air  which  is  heated,  the 
speed  at  which  sound  travels  in  it  is 
increased  because  hot  air  expands.  At 
the  freezing  point,  sound  travels 
through  the  air  at  the  rate  of  1,091  feet 
a  second,  and  for  every  increase  in  tem- 
perature of  one  degree  of  heat,  the 
speed  is  increased  about  thirteen  inches 
a  second.  Accordingly  at  68°  F.  the 
speed  would  be  approximately  1,130 
feet  a  second.  Sounds  also  travel  faster 
in  moist  air  than  in  dry. 


In  other  gases  the  speed  of  sound 
transmission  may  be  greater  or  less  than 
in  air.  I'^or  example,  in  hydrogen  gas, 
which  is  much  lighter  than  air,  sound 
travels  nearly  four  times  as  fast  as  it 
does  in  air.  On  the  other  hand,  in  car- 
bonic acid  gas,  which  is  heavier  than 
air,  sound  is  transmitted  more  slowly. 

In  liquids,  which  are  always  heavier 
than  air,  you  would  naturally  think  that 
sound  would  travel  more  slowly  than 
in  air,  but  this  is  not  true.  Liquids  are 
less  compressible  than  gases  and  this 
causes  the  speed  with  which  sound  is 
transmitted  in  them  to  be  increased.  In 
water  sound  travels  about  four  times 
as  fast  as  in  air. 

What  Are  the  Properties  of  Sound? 

Sounds  dififer  from  each  other  by  the 
extent  to  which  they  possess  three  qual- 
ities, namely ;  intensity,  pitch  and  qual- 
ity. 

The  intensity  of  any  sound  that  we 
hear  depends  upon  the  size  of  the  waves 
that  reach  our  ears.  The  size  of  a 
sound  wave  gradually  decreases,  as  the 
wave  travels  from  its  starting  point, 
consequently  the  intensity  of  a  sound 
depends  upon  the  distance  from  the 
point  at  which  the  sound  was  produced. 
We  know  this  from  experience  and  if 
we  think  of  the  matter  for  a  moment 
we  will  see  why  it  is  so.  At  the  start 
of  a  sound  wave,  only  a  small  quantity 
of  air  is  afifected,  but  for  every  inch 
it  travels  the  quantity  of  air  to  which 
the  wave  is  conveyed  becomes  larger, 
and  the  intensity  of  the  waves  must 
grow  correspondingly  smaller,  just  as 
when  a  pebble  is  dropped  into  water, 
the  ripples  produced  by  it  are  highest 
at  the  point  where  the  pebble  struck  the 
water,  and  grows  lower  and  lower  as 
their  circle  widens. 

It  has  been  found  possible  to  meas- 
ure the  intensity  of  a  sound  wave,  at 
different  distances  from  the  point  from 
which  it  started,  and  from  these  meas- 
urements it  has  been  learned  that  the 
decrease  in  the  open  air,  follows  a  fixed 
rule  that  is  stated  thus :  the  intensity 
of  a  sound  wave  at  any  point  is  in- 
versely proportional  to  the  square  of  its 


WHY  WE    CAN   HEAR  THROUGH   SPEAKING   TUBES 


487 


distance  from  its  starting  point.  This 
rule  is  called  "the  law  of  inverse 
square,"  and  it  means  that  if  the  inten- 
sity of  a  wave  be  measured  at  two 
points,  distant  say  one  hundred,  and  two 
hundred  yards,  respectively,  from  the 
starting  point  of  the  sound,  the  intensity 
of  the  sound  at  the  first  point  will  be 
found  to  be  four  times  as  great  as  at 
the  second  point. 

Why     Can     You     Hear     More     Easily 
Through  a  Speaking  Tube? 

We  have  seen  that  the  decrease  in 
intensity  of  a  sound  wave  as  it  travels 
through  the  air,  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  quantity  of  air  set  in  motion  by  it 
is  constantly  increasing.  But,  if  a  wave 
is  conveyed  through  a  tube  containing 
air,  the  quantity  of  air  to  which  the  vi- 
brations are  communicated  does  not  in- 
crease as  the  wave  travels  forward,  and 
theoretically  there  is  no  decrease  in  in- 
tensity. W^hen  a  wave  is  actually  trans- 
mitted in  this  way,  however,  it  is  found 
that  there  is  some  decrease  in  intensity 
on  account  of  the  friction  of  the  par- 
ticles of  air  against  the  sides  of  the 
tube ;  but  the  decrease  from  this  cause 
is  much  slower  than  that  which  occurs 
in  the  open  air,  and  consequently 
sounds  can  be  heard  at  much  greater 
distances  through  tubes  than  through 
the  open  air.  Tubes  for  speaking  pur- 
poses are  frequently  used  to  connect 
different  parts  of  the  same  building, 
and  if  the  tubes  are  not  too  crooked  they 
serve  their  purpose  very  well. 

Pitch  is  that  property  of  sounds  that 
determines  whether  they  are  high  or 
low.  The  pitch  of  a  sound  depends 
upon  the  number  of  vibrations  a  sec- 
ond which  the  body  that  produces  it 
makes.  The  sound  of  an  explosion  has 
no  pitch  because  it  makes  but  one  wave 
in  the  air.  The  sound  made  by  a  wagon 
on  a  pavement  has  no  definite  pitch, 
for  it  is  a  mixture  of  sounds,  in  which 
the  number  of  vibrations  per  second  is 
not  the  same.  Pitch  is  a  property  of 
continuous  sounds  only,  and  it  is  ap- 
parent chiefly  in  musical  sounds,  by 
which  we  mean  sounds  in  which  the  vi- 
brations   are    continuous    and   regular. 


In  music,  however,  pitch  is  very  im- 
portant. In  a  musical  instrument,  the 
parts  are  so  arranged  that  the  sounds 
produced  can  be  given  any  desired 
pitch,  and  it  is  by  controlling  the  pitch 
that  the  pleasing  effect  of  musical 
sounds  in  large  measure  is  produced 
Sounds  of  low  pitch  are  produced  by 
bodies  making  but  a  few  vibrations  a 
second  while  high-pitched  sounds  are 
made  by  bodies  that  vibrate  rapidly. 
Quality,  may  be  defined  as  that  prop- 
erty of  sounds  which  enable  us  to  dis- 
tinguish the  notes  produced  by  differ- 
ent instruments.  Two  notes,  one  of 
which  is  produced  upon  a  piano,  and 
the  other  upon  a  violin,  may  have  the 
same  pitch  and  be  equally  loud,  yet 
they  are  easily  distinguishable.  The 
difference  in  them  is  due  to  the  presence 
of  what  are  called  overtones. 


What  Is  Meant  By  the  Length  of  Sound 
Waves  ? 

The  length  of  a  sound  wave  em- 
braces the  distance  from  the  point  of 
greatest  compression  in  one  wave  to  the 
same  point  in  the  next.  This  depends 
upon  the  pitch  for  if  a  sounding  body 
is  making  one  'hundred  vibrations  a  sec- 
ond, by  the  time  the  one  hundredth  vi- 
bration is  made,  the  wave  from  the  first 
vibration  will  have  travelled  about 
eleven  hundred  feet  from  the  starting 
point,  and  the  remaining  ninety-eight 
waves  will  lie  between  the  first  and  the 
one  hundredth.  In  consequence  of  this, 
the  wave  length  for  that  'particivlar 
sound  will  be  about  eleven  feet.  If  the 
sounding  body  had  made  eleven  hun- 
dred vibrations  a  second  by  the  time 
the  first  wave  had  travelled  eleven  hun- 
dred feet,  there  would  have  been  eleven 
hundred  waves  produced,  and  the  wave 
length  for  that  sound  woud  be  one  foot. 
The  wave  lengths  of  sounds  i)ro(luced 
by  the  human  voice  usually  lay  between 
one  and  eight  feet,  though  some  singers 
have  produced  notes  having  wave 
lengths  as  great  as  eighteen  feet,  and 
others  have  reached  notes  so  high  that 
the  wave  length  was  only  about  nine 
inches. 


488 


WHAT  A   SOUNDING    BOARD   DOES 


When  a  tuning  fork  is  struck,  it 
produces  a  sound  so  faint  that  it  can 
scarcely  be  heard  unless  the  fork  is 
held  near  the  ear ;  but  if  the  end  of  the 
fork  is  held  on  a  box  or  table,  the 
sound  rings  out  loudly  and  seems  to 
come  from  the  table.  The  explanation 
of  this  is  very  simple.  When  only  the 
fork  vibrates,  it  produces  very  small 
sound  waves,  because  its  prongs  are 
small  and  cut  through  the  air.  But 
when  it  is  set  on  a  box  or  table,  its  vi- 
brations are  communicated  to  the  sup- 
port, and  the  broader  surface  of  the 
box  or  table  sets  a  larger  mass  of  air 
in  vibration,  and  so  amplifies  the  sound 
of  the  fork.  When  a  surface  is  used  in 
this  way  to  reinforce  the  vibrations  of 
a  small  body,  and  thus  produce  sound 
waves  of  greater  volume,  it  is  called  a 
sounding  board.  Many  musical  instru- 
ments, like  the  violin  and  the  piano, 
owe  the  intensity  of  their  sounds  to 
sounding  boards,  Avhich  reinforce  the 
vibrations  of  their  strings. 

Columns  of  air,  like  sounding  boards, 
serve  to  reinforce  sound  waves.  Un- 
like sounding  boards,  however,  they  do 
not  respond  equally  w^ell  to  a  large 
number  of  different  sounds.  They  re- 
spond to  one  sound  only,  or  to  several 
widely  different  ones.  This  may  be 
shown  as  follows :  Take  a  glass  tube 
about  sixteen  inches  long,  and  two 
inches  in  diameter,  and  after  thrusting 
one  end  of  it  into  a  vessel  of  water, 
hold  a  vibrating  tuning  fork  over  the 
other  end.  By  gradually  loavering  the 
tube  into  the  water  a  point  will  be 
reached  at  which  the  sound  becomes 
very  loud,  and  as  this  point  is  passed 
the  sound  gradually  dies  away  again. 
By  raising  the  tube  again  the  sound 
is  again  made  loud  when  the  tube 
reaches  a  certain  point.  This  shows 
that  to  reinforce  sound  waves  of  a  cer- 
tain vibration  frequency,  the  column  of 
air  in  the  tube  must  be  of  certain 
length. 

Let  us  now  see  -why  the  waves  pro- 
duced by  the  tuning  fork  are  reinforced 
only  by  a  column  of  air  of  a  certain 
length.  When  the  prongs  of  the  fork 
make  a  vibration,  a  wave  of  air  is  pro- 


duced which  enters  the  tube,  goes  down 
to  the  water,  is  reflected,  and  comes 
back  toward  the  fork.  Now,  if  the 
reflected  wave  reaches  the  fork  at  the 
precise  moment  when  it  has  completed 
one-half  of  its  vibration  and  is  about 
to  begin  upon  the  second  half;  it  will 
strengthen  the  wave  produced  by  the 
second  half  of  the  vibration ;  but  if  the 
reflected  wave  reaches  the  fork  before 
or  after  the  beginning  of  the  second  half 
of  the  vibration,  it  will  not  reinforce  it. 
At  the  downward  movement  of  the 
lower  prong  of  the  tuning  fork,  a  wave 
of  compression  is  sent  down  into  the 
tube,  and  is  reflected  at  the  surface  of 
the  water.  In  order  to  reinforce  the 
wave  produced  by  the  prong  when  it 
moves  upward,  the  reflected  wave  must 
reach  the  fork  just  at  the  time  that  the 
prong  reaches  its  normal  position  and 
before  it  starts  upon  the  second  half 
of  its  vibration. 

Not  only  do  columns  of  air  tend  to 
reinforce  notes  having  a  certain  rate 
of  vibration,  but  all  elastic  bodies  have 
a  certain  rate  at  which  they  tend  to  vi- 
brate, and  when  sounds  having  the 
same  rate  of  vibration  are  produced 
near  them,  these  bodies  will  vibrate  in 
sympathy  with  them.  If  the  sounds  be 
kept  up  long  enough,  the  sympathetic 
vibrations  in  objects  near  them  some- 
times become  so  great  that  they  can 
easily  be  seen.  Goblets  and  tumblers 
made  of  thin  glass  show  this  property 
very  strikingly.  When  the  proper  notes- 
are  sounded  the  glasses  take  up  the  vi- 
brations, and  give  a  sound  of  the  same 
pitch.  If  the  note  is  loud,  and  is  con- 
tinued for  some  time,  the  vibrations  of 
a  glass  sometimes  become  so  great  that 
the  glass  breaks.  Large  buildings,  and 
bridges  also,  have  rates  at  which  they 
tend  to  vibrate,  and  this  fact  is  the 
foundation  for  the  old  saying,  that  a 
man  may  fiddle  a  bridge  down,  if  he 
fiddles  long  enough. 

Musical  Instruments. 

By  musical  sounds,  are  meant  sounds 
that  are  pleasant  to  hear,  and  their  com- 
bination in  such  a  way  that  their  eflfect 


WHAT  PITCH   IS    IN   MUSIC 


489 


is  agreeable  produces  music.  Any  in- 
strument, therefore,  that  is  capable  of 
producing  pleasing  sounds  may  be 
called  a  musical  instrument,  and  music 
is  sometimes  produced  by  very  odd  de- 
vices ;  but  by  musical  instruments  we 
ordinarily  mean  instruments  that  are 
especially  designed  to  produce  musical 
sounds.  The  number  of  such  instru- 
ments that  have  been  invented  is  enor- 
mous, but  all  of  them  may  be  divided 
into  comparatively  few  classes,  only 
two  of  which  are  of  much  importance. 
The  two  classes,  only  two  of  which  are 
of  much  importance.  The  two  classes 
referred  to  are  stringed  instruments 
and  wind  instruments. 

Stringed  musical  instruments  are 
those  in  which  the  sounds  are  produced 
by  the  vibration  of  a  number  of  strings, 
and  are  generally  reinforced  by  a 
sounding  board.  The  strings  are  ar- 
ranged in  the  instruments  in  such  a  way 
that  the  pitch  of  the  sound  produced  by 
each  string  shall  bear  relation  to  the 
pitch  of  those  obtained  from  the  other 
strings.  As  long  as  this  relation  ex- 
ists, the  instrument  is  said  to  be  in  tune, 
and  when  the  relation  is  destroyed,  the 
instrument  is  out  of  tune,  and  the  music 
produced  by  it  is  apt  to  contain  what 
we  call  discords. 

The  conditions  that  determine  the 
pitch  of  sounds  produced  by  strings  can 
be  very  easily  discovered  by  experi- 
ment. Thus,  by  taking  two  pieces  of 
the  same  wire,  one  twice  as  long  as  the 
other,  and  stretching  them  equally,  you 
will  observe  on  striking  them  that  the 
shorter  one  yields  the  higher  note.  If 
their  vibration  frecjuencies  are  meas- 
ured it  will  be  found  that  the  shorter 
string  has  a  vibration  frequency  just 
twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  longer 
string.  From  this  we  conclude  that 
when  two  strings  of  the  same  size  (and 
material)  are  stretched  equally  taut, 
their  vibration  frcfpiencies  are  inversely 
f>roportional  to  their  lengths. 

By  now  taking  two  pieces  of  wire, 
of  the  same  size  and  length,  and  stretch- 
ing them  so  that  the  tension  of  one  is 
four  times  as  great  as  that  of  tlie  other, 
we    shall    find   that    the   vil)ration    fre- 


quency of  the  tighter  string  is  just  twice 
as  great  as  that  of  the  looser.  Thus, 
we  see  that  the  vibration  frequency  de- 
pends upon  the  tension  applied  to  a 
string,  and,  that  in  strings  of  the  same 
size  and  length,  the  vibration  frequen- 
cies are  proportional  to  the  square  roots 
of  their  tensions. 

Now  taking  two  strings  of  the  same 
length,  but  with  the  diameter  of  one 
twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  other,  and 
stretching  them  equally,  we  shall  find 
that  the  vibration  frequency  of  the 
smaller  string  is  twice  that  of  the 
larger ;  which  shows  that  when  the 
lengths  and  tensions  of  two  strings  are 
equal,  their  vibration  frequencies  are 
inversely  proportional  to  their  diam- 
eters. 

In  constructing  stringed  instruments, 
advantage  is  taken  of  each  of  these  con- 
ditions that  affect  the  vibration  of 
strings,  and  the  requisite  pitch  is  se- 
cured in  a  string  by  choosing  one  of 
convenient  length  and  diameter,  and  by 
stretching  it  to  just  the  right  tension. 

When  a  string  is  plucked  in  the 
middle,  it  vibrates  as  a  whole,  and  its 
rate  of  vibration,  or  vibration  frequency, 
is  determined  by  the  three  conditions 
that  have  just  been  discussed;  but  if  a 
finger  is  laid  on  the  string,  lin  the 
middle,  and  the  string  is  plucked  be- 
tween the  middle  and  the  end,  the  string 
will  vibrate  in  halves,  and  the  middle 
point  will  remain  at  rest.  If  the  string 
had  been  touched  at  a  point  one-fourth 
of  the  length  from  the  end  it  would 
have  vibrated  in  fourths,  and  there 
would  have  been  three  stationary  points. 

When  vibrations  are  set  up  in  a 
string,  with  nothing  to  prevent  the  free 
vibration  of  the  whole  string,  it  first 
vibrates  as  a  whole,  and  the  sound  pro- 
duced is  known  as  the  fundamental 
tone  of  the  string;  but  very  soon  smaller 
vibrations  of  segments  of  the  string  be- 
gin, first  of  halves  of  the  string,  then 
of  thirds,  and  then  of  fourths.  These 
smaller  vibrations  produce  sound  waves 
that  blend  with  the  fundamental  tone 
and  are  known  as  overtones.  The  com- 
bined sound  of  the  fundamental  tone 
and  the  overtones  is  called  a  note.    Tiie 


490 


WHY  RED  MAKES  A  BULL  ANGRY 


overtones  present  in  notes  that  have  the 
same  fundamental  tone  are  not  the 
same  when  the  notes  are  produced  by 
different  instruments,  and,  consequent- 
ly, the  sound  of  notes  of  the  same  pitch 
is  not  the  same  on  different  instruments. 
This  difference  in  notes  of  the  same 
pitch  has  already  been  mentioned,  but 
the  way  in  which  overtones  are  pro- 
duced was  not  explained  in  connection 
with  it. 

In  wind  instruments  the  sounds  are 
produced  by  the  vibrations  of  columns 
of  air  in  pipes.  In  the  orc^an,  whicli 
is  probably  the  best  example  of  a  wind 
instrument,  the  vibrations  are  usually 
produced  by  causing  a  current  of  air  to 
strike  a  sharp  edge,  just  above  the  open- 
ing of  the  pipe,  as  is  done  in  a  common 
whistle.  A  portion  of  the  air  current 
is  deflected  into  the  organ  pipe,  and 
it  sets  up  vibrations  in  the  air  within 
the  pipe. 

The  pitch  of  the  sound  produced  by 
an  organ  pipe  is  determined  by  the 
length  of  the  pipe.  A  pipe  that  is  open 
at  both  ends,  called  an  open  pipe,  pro- 
duces a  sound  that  has  a  wave  length 
twice  as  great  as  the  length  of  the 
pipe ;  and  if  the  pipe  is  open  at  one  end 
only,  a  closed  pipe,  the  sound  produced 
has  a  wave  length  twice  the  length  of 
the  open  pipe.  Hence  it  will  be  seen 
that  a  closed  pipe  produces  a  sound  that 
has  the  same  pitch  as  that  produced 
by  an  open  pipe  that  is  twice  as  long. 

Talking  Machines. 

The  phonograph,  graphophone,  gram- 
ophone, sonophone,  and  other  talking 
machines,  furnish  one  of  the  best  proofs 
of  the  wave  theory  of  sound,  because 
their  invention  was  based  upon  that 
theory.  The  first  talking  machine  was 
that  invented  by  Thomas  A.  Edison  and 
called  by  him  the  phonograph.  The 
others  merely  show  the  principle  of  the 
phonograph  applied  in  different  ways, 
and  need  not  be  separately  described. 
The  reasoning  that  led  Edison  to  in- 
vent the  phonograph  was  that  if  the 
sound  waves  produced  by  the  human 
voice  were   allowed  to   strike   a   thick 


disk  of  hard  rubber  or  metal,  they 
would  cause  the  disk  to  vibrate  in  a 
certain  way,  and  if  the  disk  were  again 
made  to  vibrate  as  it  had  done  under 
the  influence  of  the  voice,  the  sounds 
of  the  voice  would  be  reproduced.  The 
difificult  part  of  the  task  of  making  a 
talking  machine  was  in  finding  a  way 
to  make  the  disk  vibrate  again  as  it 
did  under  the  influence  of  the  voice 
This,  however,  was  finally  accom- 
plished, providing  the  disk  with  a 
needle,  that  rests  on  a  cylinder  of  hard 
wax.  which  turns  slowly  under  the 
point  of  the  needle  while  the  sound 
waves  are  striking  the  disk.  The  vi- 
brations of  the  disk  cause  the  point  to 
indent  the  surface  of  the  wax  so  as 
to  produce  a  groove  of  varying  depth 
on  its  surface.  After  the  vibrations  of 
the  speaker's  voice  have  been  recorded 
in  this  way  on  the  surface  of  the  wax 
cylinder  the  needle  can  be  made  to  re- 
trace its  path,  and  will  cause  the  disk 
to  vibrate  as  it  did  under  the  tones  of 
the  speaker's  voice.  These  last  vibra- 
tions of  the  disk  produce  sound  waves 
similar  to  those  of  the  voice,  but  their 
amplitude  is  less  and  the  sound  is  not 
so  loud. 

Why  Does  Red  Make  a  Bull  Angry  1 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  a  red  tlag  really 
makes  a  bull  more  exited  or  more  quick- 
ly than  a  rag  of  any  other  color  or 
any  other  object  which  the  bull  can  see 
plainly  but  does  not  understand.  Con- 
ceding for  the  moment  that  red  excites 
a  bull  more  than  any  other  color,  the 
answer  to  the  question  will  be  found  in 
the  statement  that  anything  unusual 
which  the  bull  sees  has  a  tendency  to 
make  him  angry  and  the  thing  which 
he  can  see  at  a  distance  more  quickly 
will  start  him  going  most  quickly.  He 
can  see  a  red  rag  better  perhaps  than 
almost  any  other  color.  There  may  be 
something  about  the  color  which  excites 
him  just  as  some  notes  on  the  piano 
will  worry  some  dogs,  but  there  is  no 
way  of  studying  the  bull's  anatomy  to 
determine  why  red  should  excite  him 
more  than  any  other  color,  if  that  is  so. 


HOW  A  KEY  TURNS  A   LOCK 


491 


What    Happens    When    the    Knob    is 
Turned  ? 

All  of  that  portion  of  the  lock  which  is  shown 
above  the  round  central  post  is  operated  by  the 
knob,  the  spindle  of  which  passes  through  the 
sciuare  hole.  Before  the  knob  is  turned,  the  parts 
are  in  the  position  shown  in  figure  2,  with  the 
latch  bolt  protruding.  Turning  the  knob  to  the 
left  gives  the  position  shown  in  figure  i,  the 
upper  lever  in  the  hub  pushing  back  the  yoke, 
which  in  turn  pushes  back  the  latch  bolt.  When 
the  hand  is  removed,  the  springs  cause  the  parts 
to  return  to  the  position  shown  in  figure  2.  Turn- 
ing the  knob  to  the  right  also  retracts  the  latch 
bolt,  as  shown  in  figure  3,  by  means  of  the 
lower    lever    on    the    hub. 

The  spiral  spring  on  the  latch  bolt  is  lighter 
than  the  one  above  it.  This  gives  an  easy,  lively 
action  to  the  bolt,  with  very  little  friction  when 
the  door  is  closed,  while  the  heavier  spring  above 
gives    a    quick    and    positive    action    of    the    knobs. 


What     Happens     When     the     Key     is 
Turned  ? 

All  of  that  portion  of  the  lock  which  is  shown 
below  the  round  central  post  is  operated  by  the 
key.  The  square  stud  is  attached  to  the  bolt, 
and  in  figure  i,  it  is  seen  that  the  projections  on 
the  flat  tumblers  prevent  the  stud  from  moving 
forward,  holding  the  bolt  in  retracted  position. 
When  the  key  is  turned  as  shown  in  figure  2,  it 
raises  the  tumblers  releasing  the  stud,  and  then 
pushes  the  bolt  out,  the  tumblers  falling  into 
position  as  shown  in  figure  3,  with  the  projections 
again  engaging  the  stud  and  preventing  the  bolt 
from  moving  until  the  key  is  turned  backward, 
again  raising  the  tumblers  and  releasing  and  re- 
tracting  the   bolt. 


How  Key  Changes  Are  Provided. 

There  are  three  ways  in  which  keys  are  made 
individual     to     the     locks     they     fit. 

a.  By  changing  the  shape  of  the  keyhole.  This 
may  be  done  shorter  or  longer,  wide  or  narrow, 
straight  or  tapering  and  with  projections  on  the 
sides  which  the  key  must  fit,  making  it  difficult  or 
impossible  for  keys  of  a  dift'erent  class  to  enter 
the  lock.  In  the  lock  shown,  a  projection  on  the 
keyhole  will  be  noted,  fitting  a  groove  in  the  bit 
of    the    key. 

h.  By  wards  attached  to  the  lock-case.  The  two 
crescent-shaped  wards  seen  near  the  key  in  figure 
2  illustrate  this  feature.  Similar  wards  arc  placed 
on  the  lock  cover.  These  fit  into  the  two  notches 
shown  on  the  key  bit  in  figure  4,  and  their  shape 
and    position    are    varied    at    will. 

c.  By  changes  in  the  tumblers.  There  are  five 
flat  tumblers  in  the  lock  shown,  and  their  lower 
edges  fit  into  the  end  of  the  key  bit.  By  varying 
their  height,  changes  in  the  cutting  of  the  key 
are    made    necessary. 

The  security  of  a  lock  depends  very  largely 
upon  its  being  so  made  that  no  key  will  operate 
it  e.xcept  the  one  which  belongs  to  it,  and  this 
is  obtained  by  guarding  the  keyhole  by  means  of  a, 
by  preventing  the  wrong  key  from  turning  by 
means  of  h,  and  by  still  further  limitations  by 
means   of   c. 


Iwr..   ■S- 


492 


HOW  A  CYLINDER  LOCK  WORKS 


The  Cylinder  Lock. 


FIGURE    2. 
FACE    OF    CYLINDER    LOCK. 


Door  locks  of  the  highest  grade  of  security  are  made  with 
a  locking  cylinder,  which  contains  tumblers  in  the  form  of 
miniature  bolts  which  make  it  impossible  to  operate  the  lock 
except  with  the  key  to  which  it  is  fitted.  This  is  screwed  into 
the  lock-case  through  the  side  of  the  door,  with  the  lever 
on  the  inner  end  engaging  the  end  of  the  bolt  in  the  lock, 
so  that  as  it  is  moved  it  either  retracts  or  "throws"  the 
bolt    as    desired. 

I'^igure  I  shows  all  the  parts  of  a  modern  master-keyed 
lock.  Figure  4  shows  a  broken  view  of  the  cylinder  with 
all  parts  in  position.  Figure  3  shows  a  simpler  form 
used  when  the  master  key  is  not  desired.  Figure  2  shows 
the  front,  the  only  part  which  is  visible  when  the  lock 
is  in  use,  with  its  keyvi'ay  of  tortuous  shape  which  will 
not    admit    flat-picking    tools. 

When  the  lock  is  assembled,  the  pin  tumblers  project 
through  the  shell,  the  master  cylinder  and  the  key  plug 
holding  all  parts  firmly  bolted  or  fastened  together.  When 
the  proper  key  is  inserted,  the  tumblers  are  raised  until 
breaks"  in  all  of  them  coincide  with  the  surface  of  the 
key  plug,  releasing  it  and  permitting  the  key  to  turn  it. 
If  any  one  of  the  five  tumblers  is  .002  inch  too  high  or 
too  low,  the  key  will  not  turn;  so  that  no  key  except 
the   one   made    for   the   lock   can   be   used. 

In  the  master-keyed  lock,  the  master  key  causes  the 
breaks  to  coincide  with  the  outer  surface  of  the  master 
ring.  It  is  thus  possible  to  have  a  master  key  which  will 
fit  any  desired  number  of  locks  with  the  individual  or 
change  keys  all  different  from  each  other  and  from  the 
master    key. 

The  balls  reduce  friction  to  such  an  extent  that  a  key 
has  been  inserted  and  withdrawn  for  a  million  times  with- 
out  affecting  the   accuracy   of   the    lock. 


INTERIOR    OF    CYLINDER    LOCK    WITHOUT 
M.\STER    KEY. 


FIGURE    4. 
INTERIOR    OF     MASTER-KEYED    CYLINDER    LOCK. 


WHERE  SALT  COMES   FROM 


493 


Where  Does  Salt  Come  From? 

Salt  is  one  of  the  things  with  which 
we  come  in  contact  with  daily;  perhaps 
more  than  any  other.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  water,  probably  no  one  thing 
is  used  more  by  all  civilized  people  than 
salt. 

You  have  already  learned  in  our  talk 
on  elements  the  difference  between  a 
mere  mixture  of  substances  and  a  chem- 
ical compound.  You  remember  that 
when  some  substances  are  only  mixed 
together,  they  do  not  lose  their  identity. 
In  a  compound  the  substances  are  al- 
ways combined  in  fixed  proportions  and 
the  properties  of  the  compound  are  often 
very  different  from  those  of  the  things 
that  make  it.  Common  salt  is  made  of 
two  substances,  that  are  not  at  all  like 
salt,  and  are  very  different  from  each 
other.  One,  sodium,  is  a  soft,  bluish 
metal,  and  the  other  is  chlorine,  a  yel- 
lowish-green gas.  The  chemical  name 
for  salt  is  sodium  which  is  derived 
from  the  two  names  sodium  and  chlor- 
ine. 

Sodium  and  chlorine  are  both  what 
we  have  learned  to  call  elements.  An 
element  being  a  substance  which  can- 
not be  separated  into  substances  of  dif- 
ferent kinds.  There  are  now  known 
about  seventy  such  elements.  All  the 
substances  around  us  are  composed  of 
these  elements  along,  or  chemically 
united  in  different  compounds,  or 
simply  mixed  together.  Most  of  them, 
however,  are  mixtures,  not  of  separate 
elements,  but  of  compounds.  The  soil 
imder  our  feet  is  a  mixture  of  com- 
])0unds.  Water  is  also  a  compound. 
l\ire  compounds  very  rarely  occur 
naturally.  Salt  is  sometimes  found  al- 
most pure ;  but  generally  is  mixed  with 
so  many  other  things  that  we  have  to 
take  them  out  to  get  absolutely  pure 
salt.  For  practical  every-day  use  it  is 
tmnecessary  to  purify  the  salt. 

Salt  is  found  in  large  quantities  in 
the  sea  water,  in  which  it  is  dissolved 
with  some  other  substances.  It  is  also 
found  in  salt  beds,  formed  by  the  dry- 
ing up  of  old  lakes  that  have  no  out- 
lets ;  salt  wells,  that  yield  strong  brine ; 


and  salt  mines,  in  which  it  is  found 
in  hard,  solid,  transparent  crystals, 
called  rock  salt.  Rock  salt  is  the  purest 
form  in  which  salt  is  found  and,  to 
prepare  it  for  market,  it  is  merely  neces- 
sary to  grind  it  or  cut  into  blocks.  The 
greatest  deposit  of  salt  in  the  world  is 
probably  that  at  Wielizka  in  Poland, 
where  there  is  a  bed  500  miles  long,  20 
miles  wide,  and  1,200  feet  thick.  Some 
of  the  mines  there  are  so  extensive  that 
it  is  said  some  of  the  miners  spend 
all  their  lives  in  them,  never  coming 
to  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

A  trip  through  these  mines  is  interest- 
ing. In  one  of  them  can  be  seen  a 
church  made  entirely  of  salt.  The  salt 
supply  of  the  United  States  is  obtained 
chiefly  from  the  salt  wells  of  Michigan 
and  New  York,  the  Great  Salt  Lake  in 
Utah,  and  the  rock-salt  mines  of  Louisi- 
ana and  Kansas. 

In  the  arts  and  manufactures,  the 
most  important  uses  of  salt  are  in  glaz- 
ing earthenware,  in  extracting  metals 
from  their  ores,  in  preserving  meats 
and  hides,  in  fertilizing  arid  soil,  and 
also,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  in  the 
manufacture  of  soda.  Of  equal  import- 
ance, perhaps,  is  its  use  in  food.  Most 
people  think  it  not  only  lends  a  pleas- 
ant flavor,  but  is  itself  an  important  ar- 
ticle of  diet.  It  is  certain,  that  all 
people  who  can  obtain  it  use  salt  in  their 
food,  and  where  it  is  scarce,  it  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  of  luxuries. 

Soda  is  of  interest  to  us,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  its  use  in  our  households, 
as  because  it  plays  on  extremely  impor- 
tant part  in  two  industries  that  contri- 
bute greatly  to  our  comfort,  viz.,  the 
manufacture  of  glass  and  soap. 

Soda  is  not  found  naturally  in  great 
abundance,  as  salt  is,  but  is  generally 
made  from  other  substances,  l-'ormerly 
it  was  made  almost  entirely  from  the 
ashes  of  certain  plants.  One,  known  as 
the  Salsoda  soda-])Iant,  was  formerly 
cnltivatcrl  in  Si)ain  for  the  soda  con- 
tained in  it,  and  the  ashes,  or  Barilla, 
as  thev  were  called,  were  soaked  in 
water  to  dissolve  out  the  sodc.  Now, 
however,  the  world's  soda  supply  is  pro- 
duced from  common  salt  by  two  proc- 


esses,  known  from  the  names  of  their 
inventors  as  the  Leblanc  and  Solvay 
processes. 

In  the  Leblanc  process  the  first  step 
is  to  treat  the  salt,  or  sodium  chloride, 
with  sulphuric  acid.  As  a  result  of  this, 
a  compound  of  sodium,  sulphur,  and 
oxygen,  called  sodium  sulphate  is 
formed,  together  with  another  acid 
containing  hydrogen  and  chlorine,  and 
called  hydrochloric  acid.  This  acid  is 
driven  oflf  by  boiling,  and  the  sodium 
sulphate  is  left. 

The  next  step  in  the  process  is  to  con- 
vert the  sodium  sulphate,  or  "salt 
cake,"  into  soda,  or,  to  give  it  its  chem- 
ical name,  sodium  carbonare.  This 
change  is  brought  about  by  mixing  the 
salt  cake  with  limestone  and  coal  and 
heating  the  mixture.  Just  what  changes 
go  on  \vhen  this  is  done,  are  not  known, 
but  the  chief  ones  are  j^robably  the  fol- 
lowing: the  coal,  which  consists  for  the 
most  part  of  an  element  called  carbon, 
takes  the  oxygen  out  of  the  sodium  sul- 
phate, and  unites  with  it  to  form  car- 
bonic acid  gas,  leaving  a  compound  of 
sodium  and  sulphur  called  sodium  sul- 
phide ;  this  acts  on  the  limestone,  which 
is  composed  of  a  metal,  calcium,  in 
combination  with  carbon  and  oxygen, 
and  causes  the  sulphur  in  the  sodium 
sulphide  to  combine  with  the  calcium, 
forming  calcium  sulphide,  while  the 
sodium  combines  with  the  carbon  and 
oxygen  and  forms  the  desired  com- 
pound, sodium  carbonate.  After  the 
heating,  the  resulting  mass  which  con- 
tains calcium  sulphide,  sodium  carbo- 
nate, and  some  unburned  coal,  and  is 
known  as  "black  ash,"  is  broken  up  and 
treated  with  water.  This  dissolves  the 
sodium  carbonate,  leaving  the  rest  un- 
dissolved, and  when  part  of  the  water  is 
evaporated  crystals  containing  sodium 
carbonate  and  water  are  formed.  By 
heating  these  the  water  may  be  driven 
oflf,  and  the  sodium  carbonate  left  be- 
hind as  a  white  powder. 

The  Solvay,  or  ammonia  soda,  proc- 
ess consists  in  forcing  carbonic  acid 
gas  through  strong  brine,  to  which  a 
considerable  quantity  of  ammonia  has 
been  added.     \\^hen  this  is  done,  crvs- 


tals  are  formed  in  the  brine,  which  are 
composed  of  a  compound  of  hydrogen, 
sodium,  carbon,  and  oxygen,  and  are 
called  sodium  bicarbonate.  This  sub- 
stance, which  is  the  soda  we  sometimes 
use  in  baking  bread,  is  decomposed  by 
heating,  into  water  and  sodium  carbo- 
nate, the  soda  used  for  washing. 

The  Leblanc  process  was  formerly 
used  almost  altogether  for  making 
soda ;  but  in  recent  years  the  Solvay 
process  has  come  into  extensive  use, 
and  it  is  said  that  now  more  than  half 
the  soda  of  the  world  is  made  in  this 
way. 


Where  Do  All  the  Little  Round  Stones 
Come  From? 

The  little  round  stones  you  are  think- 
ing of  are  really  pebbles  which  have 
been  worn  smooth  and  round  by  being 
rubbed  against  each  other  in  the  water, 
through  the  action  of  the  waves  on  a 
beach,  or  the  running  water  of  brooks 
and  streams.  This  sort  of  rock  is  called 
a  water-formed  rock.  Some  of  them 
have  travelled  many  miles  before  they 
are  found  side  by  side  on  the  shore  or 
in  a  large  mass  of  what  we  would  call 
conglomerate  rock.  But  whenever  you 
see  a  round  smooth  rock  or  pebble  you 
may  be  quite  sure  that  it  was  made 
round  and  smooth  by  the  action  of 
water. 

You  sometimes  see  large  rocks  made 
of  small  stones  of  various  colors  and 
sizes.  You  can  often  find  a  large  rock 
of  this  kind  standing  by  itself.  If  you 
examine  it  carefully,  you  will  find  it 
consists  of  an  immense  number  of  small 
stones  of  different  sizes  and  of  a  vari- 
ety of  colors,  all  fastened  together  as 
though  with  cement.  This  kind  or  rock 
is  called  conglomerate.  We  know  two 
kinds  of  conglomerate  rock,  one,  quite 
common,  in  which  the  little  stones  are 
round  and  smooth,  and  another,  not 
seen  so  often,  in  which  the  stones  are 
sharp.  The  latter  sort  is  sometnnes 
called  breccia,  to  distinguish  it  from  the 
former,  which  is  called  true  pudding 
stone. 


WHAT  THE   CAUSE   OF   SHADOWS    IS 


495 


What  Is  Clay? 

Clay  is  the  result  of  the  crumbling  of 
a  certain  kind  of  rocks  called  feldspars. 
When  feldspar  is  exposed  to  the  action 
of  the  weather,  it  crumbles  slowly  at  the 
surface  and  the  little  fragments  com- 
bine with  a  certain  amount  of  water, 
forming  clay.  Pure  clay  is  white  and  is 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  china  and 
porcelain.  The  common  clay  that  we 
usually  think  of  when  we  think  of  clay, 
is  generally  yellowish,  but  there  are 
many  different  colored  clays.  Most  of 
these  colors,  particularly  those  of  red 
clay,  yellow  clay  and  blue  clay,  come 
from  the  iron  which  is  present  in  the 
clay.  Clay  which  contains  iron  is  use- 
ful for  making  bricks.  Bricks  are  made 
from  clay  by  first  softening  the  clay  and 
pressing  it  in  molds,  the  size  of  a  brick. 
When  dried  for  a  time  in  the  sun  they 
are  put  into  an  oven  and  baked  in  great 
heat  and  they  become  quite  hard  and 
generally  red.  Most  of  the  clay  from 
which  bricks  are  made  turns  red  when 
baked,  whether  blue,  yellow  or  red,  be- 
cause the  iron  which  is  in  the  clay  is 
generally  turned  red  when  subjected  to 
heat. 

For  making  porcelains  it  is  desirable 
to  use  the  kinds  of  clay  which  contain 
nothing  that  melts  when  heated  to  a 
high  degree.  Clays  which  contain  sub- 
stances which  melt  in  strong  heat  are, 
therefore,  not  good  for  making  por- 
celains. There  is  a  pure  white  clay 
called  Kaolin  which  is  very  excellent 
for  this  purpose.  Clay  out  of  which 
we  make  firebrick  for  lining  stoves  and 
fireplaces  is  free  from  substances  which 
melt.  Several  kinds  of  clay  are  good 
for  making  paints. 

Where  Do  School  Slates  Come  From? 

Slates  such  as  arc  used  in  school  ana 
as  roofing  material  are  formed  of  clay, 
which  has  been  hardened  under  pres- 
sure and  heat.  When  this  occurs  it  does 
so  because  a  number  of  layers  of  clay, 
one  on  top  of  the  other,  have  at  some- 


time been  subjected  to  great  heat  and 
pressure  within  the  earth  with  tiie  re- 
sult that  the  clay  is  pressed  into  very 
thick  layers  and  changed  in  color  by  the 
heat  and  becomes  hard.  There  are 
many  kinds  of  slate.  Some  of  the 
slate,  as  found  in  slate  mines,  is  used 
to  make  roofs  over  buildings  and  for 
this  purpose  they  are  cut  to  shapes  very 
much  like  wooden  shingles.  They  are 
easily  broken,  however,  as  slate  is  very 
brittle. 

Slate  is  used  in  many  other  ways  be- 
sides for  roofs  and  school  slates.  Some- 
times it  is  made  into  slate  pencils  but, 
since  paper  has  become  so  cheap,  com- 
paratively few  slate  pencils  are  used 
in  the  school  room  today. 

What  Causes  Shadows? 

Where  anything  through  which  rays 
of  light  cannot  pass  intercepts  the  light 
rays  coming  from  a  luminous  body,  the 
light  rays  are  turned  back  in  the  direc- 
tion from  which  they  come  and  the  part 
on  the  other  side  of  the  object  which  in- 
tercepted the  light  goes  into  shade  and  a 
shadow  results.  A  shadow  then  is  pro- 
duced by  cutting  off  one  or  more  light 
rays.  We  notice  shadows  when  the  sun 
is  bright  in  the  dav'time  and  at  night 
when  we  walk  along  the  streets  lighted 
partly  by  street  lamps.  The  shadows 
we  see  in  the  daytime  are  caused  by  our 
cutting  off  and  throwing  back  some  of 
the  light  rays  which  come  from  the  sun. 
These  are  not  so  dark  as  the  shadows 
we  see  at  night  because  the  rays  of  light 
from  the  sun  are  so  bright  and  are  re- 
flected from  so  many  other  objects  to 
the  side  and  in  back  of  us. 

When,  however,  we  are  walking 
along  a  dimly  lighted  street  and  come 
to  a  street  lamp  the  shadows  our  bodies 
cause  are  quite  black.  The  night  shad- 
ows are  darker  because  the  source  of 
ligiit  is  less  intense  and  the  objects  to 
the  side  of  and  in  back  of  us  (if  we 
are  walking  toward  the  light)  do  not 
reflect  so  much  of  the  light  rays  as  they 
do  of  the  sun's  rays  in  the  daytime. 


496 


WHAT   HOLDS   A   BUILDING    UP? 


DRIVING   THE  HOLLOW  STEEL   PILES  TO   EED  ROCK. 


The  Foundation  of  a  Sky  Scraper 


How  Hollow  Steel  Piles,  Compressed 
and  Concrete  Are  Employed  to  Make 
a  Foundation 

Rapidity  of  building  construction  is 
of  primar}'  importance  in  every  city  of 
metropolitan  size.  When  real  estate 
is  sold  at  the  rate  of  several  hundred 
dollars  a  square  foot  it  is  self-evident 
that  time  is  indeed  money.     The  delay 


of  a  few  days  in  completinj^  a  struc- 
ture may  deprive  the  owner  of  the 
chance  of  earning  thousands  in  rental 
money.  Because  of  the  excessive  depth 
of  an  open  caisson,  the  completion  of  a 
foimdation  may  be  delayed  for  months. 
Hence  the  building  may  not  be  com- 
pleted until  the  renting  period  has 
passed  and  the  owner  must  wait  an 


PILES   ARE   DRIVEN   DOWN  TO   SOLID  ROCK 


497 


entire  year  before  he  can  expect  any 
financial  return  on  his  investment. 

Because  rapidity  is  so  essential  in 
city  building  construction  the  method 
of  first  sinking  an  open  pit  to  rock 
in  providing  a  foundation  has  been 
displaced  to  a  large  extent  by  a  system 
in  which  heavy  hollow  steel  piles  are" 
employed  in  clusters  to  support  a  build- 
ing. The  hollow  piles  are  driven  through 
quicksand  to  rock,  cleaned  out  and 
iiltimately  filled  with  concrete. 

In  this  method  of  constructing 
foundations,  which  is  illustrated,  hollow 
steel  piles  are  driven  in  the  well-known 
manner  down  to  solid  rock.  The 
steel  pile  sections  vary  in  length  from 
20  feet  to  22  feet,  and  in  diameter  from 
12  inches  to  24  inches.  If  the  ground 
is  to  be  penetrated  to  a  depth  greater 
than  22  feet,  the  sections  of  piling  are 
connected  by  means  of  a  sleeve  in  such 
manner    that    a    watertight    joint    is 


fonned.  Under  a  pressure  of  150 
pounds  to  the  square  inch  a  jet  of  com- 
pressed air  is  then  employed  to  blow 
out  the  earth  and  water  contained 
within  the  shell.  A  spouting  geyser  of 
mud  rising  sometimes  to  a  height  of 
150  feet,  and  occasional  large  pieces  of 
rock  blown  up  from  a  depth  of  40  feet 
below  the  ground,  bear  testimony  to 
the  terrific  force  of  the  air  blast. 

When  the  shell  has  been  completely 
cleaned  out  by  means  of  the  blast  of 
compressed  air,  the  exposed  rock  can 
be  examined  by  lowering  an  electric 
light.  Steel  sounding  rods  are  em- 
ployed to  test  the  hardness  of  the  rock 
and  to  detect  the  difference  between 
soft  and  hard  bed  rock.  After  the  piles 
in  each  pier  have  been  cleaned  out, 
they  must  be  cut  off  at  absolutely 
the  same  height — sometimes  a  very 
difficult  task  when  there  is  little  room. 
The  oxy-acetylene  torch  is  used  for  the 


'lilE   PILES  Akl.   Al;i>l-I     IV,  1..M  \-l  V.I)   ll.l-.l    L(>,\(,.        11-    i.KKAl    Ul-.rrilS   AUK   TO   UK    KKAflllCI) 
SECTIONS  OF   PILING  ARE   JOINIiD  TOGETHER   HY   MEANS  OK  A   SLEEVE. 


498 


CUTTING  STEEL   PILES   WITH   A   HOT  FLAME 


After  the  piles  in  each 
pier    have    been    cleaned 
out  they  must  he  cut  off 
at      exactly      the       same 
■i);ht — sometimes  a  very 
iiuult  task  when   there 
Utile  room.      The  oxy- 
■L-lylene    torch    Is    used 
r      the      purpose,      the 
iitcnsely   hot   flame   out- 
ing off  the  steel   almost 
ike  butter. 


PILE  BEING  CUT  TO  PROPER  LEVEL  BY  MEAN'S  OF  OXY-ACETYLENE  TORCH. 


PILES  ARE   NEXT   FILLED  WITH   CONCRETE 


499 


A  CLUSTER  OF  PILES,  CLEANED  OUT, 

FILLED  WITH  CONCRETE  AND  CUT 

OFF  FLUSH  BY  MEANS  OF 

THE  OXY-ACETYLENE 

FLAME. 


purpose,  the  intensely  hot  flame  cutting 
off  the  steel  almost  like  butter  at  the 
exact  elevation  desired. 

The  hollow  shell  is  next  filled  with 
concrete  reinforced  by  means  of  long 
two-inch  steel  rods,  sometimes  fifty 
feet  in  length.  On  clusters  of  these 
concrete-filled  piles,  the  weight  of  the 
building  is  supported. 

That  this  method  of  constructing 
foundations  is  indeed  rapid,  the  story 
of  the  work  at  145-147  West  Twenty- 
eighth  Street,  New  York  City,  proves. 
Rock  was  located  38  feet  below  the 
curb.  The  material  above  it  was  clay 
and  water-bearing  sand.  Structural 
steel  was  due  in  three  weeks,  but  the 
completion  of  the  cellar  was  still  ten 
days  off.  The  steel  pile  foundation 
method  offered  the  only  solution  of  the 
problem.  Specifications  were  drawn 
which  called  for  eighty-five  1 2-inch  steel 
piles,  driven  to  rock,  blown  clean  by 
compressed  air,  and  filled  with  con- 
crete,    reinforced     with     2 -inch     rods. 


Despite  various  obstructions  on  the 
ground  (shoring  of  neighboring  build- 
ings and  the  like)  the  driving  was 
started  on  June  30th.  The  excavator 
was  still  taking  out  his  runway  while 
the  rear  half  of  the  lot  was  completely 
driven.  After  he  had  left  the  ground 
a  compressor  was  set  up,  and  the  first 
pipe  was  blown  on  July  7th.  Three 
days  later  all  driving  and  cleaning 
had  been  completed.  During  the  fol- 
lowing two  days  all  the  piles  were 
filled  and  capped.  In  a  word,  the 
entire  foundation  had  been  completed 
three  days  before  the  expected  arrival 
of  the  steel. 

Such  rapid  work  is  not  unusual  with 
the  steel  foundation  method.  On  an- 
other contract,  work  was  completed 
not  in  the  three  months  stipulated, 
but  in  exactly  one  month  and  a  half, 
during  which  brief  time  all  the  excava- 
tion had  been  done,  including  sheeting, 
shoring,  pile-driving,  the  mounting  of 
concrete  girders  to  carry  the  wall  and 


CONCRETE  PILES  WHICH  HAVE  BEEN  SUNK  TO 
ROCK  BOTTOM  AND  IN  WHICH  TWO-INCH  STEEL 
RODS  HAVE  BEEN  INSERTED  TO  ACT  AS  REIN- 
FORCEMENT FOR  THE  CONCRETE  WHICH  WILL 
EVENTUALLY    BE    POURED    IN. 


500    BLOWING   OUT   MUD  AND  ROCK  WITH   COMPRESSED   AIR 


THE  STEEL  PILE  IS  EASILY  FORCED  EVEN 
THROUGH  THE  SOFT  UPPER  LAYERS  OF  BED 
ROCK.  SOMETIMES  VERY  LARGE  PIECES  ARE 
BLOWN  UP  INTO  THE  AIR  BY  THE  BLAST  OF 
COMPRESSED  AIR. 

capping  of  the  piles  ready  to  receive 
the  grillage. 

Sometimes  difficulties  are  encoun- 
tered which  would  prove  all  but 
insumiountnble  nnd  ccrtainlv  hoDclcsslv 


expensive  with  other  methods.  Thus 
in  carrying  out  the  one  contract,  water 
was  found  12  feet  from  the  curb.  Two 
running  streams  had  intersected  at  that 
])oint.  The  piles  were  simply  sunk 
through  the  stream  to  rock  bottom 
without  any  difficulty. 

The  excessive  cost  of  open-pit  work 
has  sometimes  made  it  impossible  to 
build  twelve  or  fourteen-story  buildings 
in  many  sections  of  the  city  of  New 
York.  The  steel  pile  has,  however, 
made  steel  building  constniction  profit- 
able. 

The  carrying  capacity  of  a  steel  pile 
is  enormous.  On  a  single  12-inch  steel 
pile  one  hundred  tons  can  be  safely 
maintained.  Piers  containing  sixteen 
piles  have  been  used,  and  loadings  up 
to  1300  tons  are  not  unusual. 

Naturally  the  question  arises:  Do 
the  steel  piles  deteriorate  in  time?  The 
question  has  been  answered  over  and 
over  again  by  the  piles  themselves. 
After  a  service  of  fifteen  years  the  steel 
foundation  piles  were  removed  from  the 
site  of  a  building  which  now  stands  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Wall  and  Nassau 
streets,  in  New  York  City.  They 
showed  practically  no  deterioration. 
The  oxidation  on  the  outside  was 
almost  negligible. 


CLEANING  OUT  A  HOLLOW  STEEL  PILE  BY  MEANS    OF  COMPRESSED  AIR   A 
GEYSER    OF    MUD    ALWAYS   APPEARS. 


HOW  THE   WATER   GETS    INTO  THE   FAUCET 


501 


L...- 


A  DRIVEWAY  ALONG  THE  TOP  OF  THE  OLIVE  BRIDGE  DAM. 


The  Story   in   a   Glass   of  Water 


How    Does    the    Water    Get    into    the 
Faucet  ? 

It  is  easy  for  you  boys  and  girls  who 
live  in  the  city  to  run  into  the  kitchen 
or  bathroom  v^hen  you  are  thirsty 
and  by  a  simple  turn  of  the  faucet  tap 
secure  a  glass  of  cool  and  refreshing 
water,  but  did  you  ever  stop  to  think 
how  many  men  must  constantly  work 
and  how  great  and  perfect  arrangements 
must  be  made  before  it  is  possible  to 
supply  a  great  city  with  water  to  drink, 
to  bathe  in,  and  for  cooking  and 
washing? 

No  one  who  has  never  had  the  expe- 
rience of  being  in  a  town  or  city  from 
which  the  water  supply  has  been  cut 
off,  for  a  day  or  a  number  of  days,  can 
realize  how  necessary  water  is  in  our 
daily  lives.  We  are  so  used  to  having 
all  the  water  we  want  at  any  time  that 
we  even  complain  when  in  summer 
we  are  asked  to  drink  water  which  is 
not  iced.  Drinking  ice-water  is  very 
much  of  a  haVjit.  In  tropical  countries 
where  there  is  no  ice,  people  drink  the 
water  just  as  they  find  it,  and  if  you 
were  to  go  there  and  drink  the  waters 
for  a  few  days,  you  would  soon  find  that 
the  water  slakes  your  thirst  even  when 
quite  warm,  so  it  is  not  the  ice  in  the 
water  that  quenches  your  thirst,  but 
the  water  itself,  and  the  ice-water  is 
not  good  for  you,  as  the  doctor  will 
tell  you,  because  it  chills  the  stomach. 


Where  Does  Our  Drinking  Water  Come 
from? 

The  best  way  to  find  out  where  the 
water  in  the  faucet  comes  from  is  to 
follow  it  back  to  its  source.  Let  us 
see.  Here  we  are  in  the  kitchen  and 
you  have  just  had  a  drink  of  water 
taken  from  the  faucet  above  the  sink. 
The  faucet,  you  will  notice,  is  attached 
to  a  small  pipe  which  is  fastened  to 
the  wall  back  of  the  sink.  We  look 
under  the  sink  and  see  that  the  pipe 
goes  through  a  hole  in  the  floor,  so  we 
reason  that  the  water  must  come  from 
the  cellar.  Let  us  go  down  cellar  and 
see.  Yes,  here  is  the  little  pipe  that 
comes  down  through  the  floor  under 
the  sink  and  we  follow  it  along  the  wall 
toward  the  front  of  the  house,  and 
well,  well,  there  it  goes  right  out 
through  the  stone  foundation  of  the 
house.  So  we  conclude  that  the  water 
comes  from  somewhere  outside  of  the 
house,  and  that  the  little  pipe'^we  have 
been  following  is  only  a  means  of 
getting  it  from  the  outside  into  the 
house.  We  now  mark  the  place  in  the 
wall  where  the  pi])c  goes  through  and 
run  around  to  the  front  of  the  house 
to  see  where  it  comes  out,  but  we  don't 
see  it.  It  must  be  Ijuried  in  tjie  ground, 
so  we  get  a  sj^ade  and  pick  and  begin 
to  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground,  and  pretty 
soon  we  find  the  little  pipe  pointing 
straight    out    toward    the    street.     Wc 


502 


HOW  A  BIG   DAM   IS  BUILT 


BUILDING  OLIVE  BRIDGE  DAM  TO  FORM  THE  ASHOKAN  RESERVOIR. 

The  great  Ashokan  reservoir  is  situated  about  fourteen  miles  west  of  Kingston  on  the 
Hudson  River.  Its  cost  is  $18,000,000,  and  it  will  hold  sufficient  water  to  cover  the  whole  of 
Manhattan  Island  to  a  depth  of  twenty-eight  feet.  The  water  is  impounded  by  the  Olive  Bridge 
dam,  which  is  built  across  Esopus  Creek,  and  also  by  the  Beaver  Kill  and  the  Hurley  dikes, 
which  have  been  built  across  streams  and  gaps  lying  between  the  hills  which  surround  the 
reservoir. 


THE  OLIVE  BRIDGE  DAM,  465O  FEET  LONG,  200  FEET  HIGH. 

The  dam  is  a  masonry  structure  190  feet  in  thickness  at  the  base,  and  23  feet  thick  at  the 
top.  The  surface  of  the  water  when  the  reservoir  is  fixll  is  590  feet  above  tide  level.  The 
total  length  of  the  main  dam  is  4560  feet,  and  the  maximum  depth  of  the  water  is  190  feet. 
The  area  of  the  water  surface  is  12.8  square  miles,  and  in  preparing  the  bottom  it  was  neces- 
sary to  remove  seven  villages,  with  a  total  population  of  2000.  Forty  miles  of  highway  and 
ten  bridges  had  to  be  built.  In  the  construction  of  the  dam  and  dikes  it  was  necessary  to  excavate 
nearly  3,000,000  cubic  yards  of  material,  and  8,000,000  cubic  yards  of  embankment  and  nearly 
1,000,000  cubic  yards  of  masonry  had  to  be  put  in  place.  The  maximum  number  of  men 
employed  on  the  job  was  3000. 


keep  on  digging  the  dirt  away,  and  thus 
open  a  Httle  trench  from  the  house 
to  the  middle  of  the  street  and  when 
we  get  there  after  a  great  deal  of  digging 
we  find  our  little  pipe  attached  to  a 
larger  pipe  which  seems  to  run  along 
the  ground  in  the  middle  of  the  street; 
so  we  are  still  in  the  dark  as  to  where 
the  water  comes  from,  excepting  that 
so  far  as  our  own  home  is  concerned  we 
know  that  it  gets  into  the  house  through 
a  little  pipe  which  is  attached  to  a 
big  pipe  in  the  middle  of  the  street. 
By  this  time  we  know  we  have  a  big 
job  on  hand. 

We  are  pretty  tired  of  digging  by 
this  time,  so  we  call  in  all  the  boys  and 
girls  in  town  to  help  us  dig  so  that  we 
may  see  where  these  pipes  come  from, 
and  we  have  a  regular  digging  carnival. 
We  follow  the  big  pipe  along  our  own 
street  until  we  come  to  the  comer. 
Here  we  find  that  our  larger  street  pipe 
is  connected  with  a  still  larger  pipe, 
so  we  think  we  had  better  follow  the 
larger  pipe.  We  keep  on  diggihg, 
getting  more  of  the  boys  and  girls  to 
help,  and  we  follow  that  big  pipe  right 
out  to  the  edge  of  town  where  we  see 
it  runs  into  another  stone  wall  which 
you  knew  all  the  time  was  the  reser- 
voir, but  concerning  what  it  was  for 
you   were    perhaps   never    quite    clear. 

Right  near  the  place  where  the  pipe 
goes  in  is  a  stairway  which  leads  up 
to  the  top  of  the  wall,  so  the  whole 
crowd  of  boys  and  girls  climb  the 
steps  and  you  are  at  the  top  of  the 
reservoir;  and  there  spread  out  before 
you,  you  see  a  big  lake  surrounded  with 
a  stone  wall  and  you  see  where  the 
water  comes  from — the  reservoir — at 
least  so  you  think.  But  you  are  wrong. 
You  really  haven't  come  anywhere 
near  the  source  of  the  supply.  For 
soon  as  you  walk  around  the  broad 
top  of  the  wall  which  surrounds  your 
rescrv^oir,  you  meet  a  man  who  asks 
you  what  you  want,  and  you  tell  him 
that  you  have  been  finding  out  where 
the  water  in  the  faucet  came  from, 
but  having  found  out  you  thought  you 
would  go  back  home. 

The  man  smiles  at  you,  but,  as  he  is 
good-natured  and  sees  you  are  really 
trying    to    find    out    where    the    water 


comes  from,  he  tells  you  that  since  you 
have  gone  to  all  the  trouble  of  digging 
up  the  streets  to  follow  the  pipes,  you 
might  as  well  learn  all  about  it. 

He  first  tells  you  that  the  reserv^oir 
is  not  really  the  place  where  the  water 
comes  from  but  only  a  tank,  so  to  speak. 
He  explains  to  you  that  most  of  the 
faucets  in  the  city  are  higher  than  the 
real  source  of  the  water,  which  is  out 
in  the  country  miles  away,  and  as  water 
will  not  run  up  hill,  it  is  necessary  to 
keep  the  city's  daily  supply  in  some 
place  that  is  higher  than  the  highest 
faucet  in  the  city,  so  that  it  will  force 
its  way  into  and  fill  to  the  very  end  all 
of  the  large  pipes  in  the  streets  and  the 
small  pipes  which  go  into  the  houses, 
so  that  the  water  will  come  out  just 
as  soon  as  you  turn  the  faucet. 

Then  he  takes  you  over  to  a  large 
building  near  the  reservoir  which  you 
have  always  called  the  water  works, 
but  never  knew  exactly  what  it  was 
for.  He  takes  you  into  a  large  room 
where  there  is  a  lot  of  nice-looking 
machinery  working  away  steadily  but 
quietly,  and  tells  you  that  these  are 
the  great  pumps  which  lift  the  water 
from  the  great  pipes  which  bring  it 
from  far  away  in  the  country,  into  the 
reservoir  we  have  just  seen,  from  which 
the  water  runs  into  and  fills  all  of  the 
pipes  into  the  city. 

He  also  tells  you  that  in  some  cities 
it  is  impossible  to  find  a  place  to  build 
a  reservoir  which  is  higher  than  the 
highest  places  in  the  city.  In  such 
places,  the  pumps  in  the  water  works 
pump  the  water  direct  into  the  city 
water  pipes  and  force  the  water  to  the 
very  end  of  all  the  pipes  and  keep  it 
there  under  pressure  all  the  time. 

From  the  pumping  station  he  takes 
you  down  stairs  in  the  water  works 
and  shows  you  the  huge  pipe  which 
brings  the  water  to  the  water  works 
from  the  country.  It  is  quite  the 
largest  pipe  you  ever  saw.  You  see  it 
is  not  really  an  iron  pipe,  but  built 
of  concrete,  which  is  quite  as  good. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  have  our 
friend,  the  water- works  man,  tell  you 
that  three  average-sized  men  could 
stand  up  on  each  other's  shoulders 
inside  the  great  pipe. 


504    HOW  THE   BIG   PIPES   ARE  LAID  THROUGH  THE   COUNTRY 


OLIVE  BRIDGE  DAM;  ESOPUS  CREEK  FLOWING  THROUGH  TEMPORARY  TUNNEL. 


PLACING   THE  9^   FOOT   STEEL   PIPES. 


A  HUGE  UNDERGROUND  RIVER 


505 


Our  water-works  man  sees  how 
earnest  you  are  in  seeing  just  where 
the  water  comes  from,  so  he  proposes 
that  we  go  find  out.  We  go  outside 
and  there  is  an  automobile  all  ready 
to  go  and  we  jump  in  and  the  machine 
starts  off  along  quite  one  of  the  nicest 
roads  you  were  ever  on.  Soon  you 
exclaim,  "  Why,  this  is  the  aqueduct 
road,"  and  so  it  is.     The  great  pipe 


through  which  the  water  comes  to  the 
city  is  an  aqueduct  and  they  have 
built  the  road  right  over  the  place 
where  the  aqueduct  runs.  Away  we 
go  as  fast  as  the  car  can  carry  us,  some- 
times ten,  or  twenty  or  perhaps  fifty 
miles,  according  to  what  city  you  are 
in.  The  city  goes  as  far  as  it  must  to 
find  a  supply  of  pure  water  and  plenty 
of  it  and  spends  millions  upon  millions 


The  water  is  ^conducted  from  Ashokan  reservoir  as  a  huge,  underground,  artificial  river 
The  aqueduct  is  nipety-tvvo  miles  in  length  from  Ashokan  to  the  northern  city  line,  and  it  should 
be  explained  that  it  is  built  on  a  gentle  grade,  and  that  the  water  flows  through  this  at  a  slow 
and  fairly  constant  speed.  The  aqueduct  contains  four  dinstict  types:  the  cut-and-cover, 
the  grade  tunnel,  the  pressure  timnel,  and  the  steel-pipe  siphon.  The  cut-and-cover  type,  which 
is  used  '■>n  fifty-five  miles  of  the  aqueduct,  is  of  a  horseshoe  shtipe  and  measures  17  feet  high  by 
17  tVet  6  inches  wide,  inside  measurements.  It  is  built  of  concrete,  and  on  completion  it  is  cov- 
eted in  with  an  earth  embankment.  This  type  is  used  wherever  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  the 
elevation  allow.  Where  the  aqueduct  intersects  hills  or  mountains,  it  is  driven  through  them 
in  tunnel  at  the  standard  grarle.  There  are  twenty-four  of  these  tunnels,  aggregating  fourteen 
rniles  in  length.  They  are  horseshoe  in  shape,  17  feet  high  by  16  feet  4  inches  wide,  and  they  are 
lined  with  concrete.  When  the  line  of  the  aqueduct  encountered  deep  and  broad  valleys, 
they  were  crossed  by  two  methods:  if  suitable  rock  were  present,  circular  tunnels  were  driven 
deep  within  this  rock  and  lined  with  concrete.  There  are  seven  of  these  pressure  tunnels  of  a 
total  length  of  seventeen  miles.  Their  internal  diameter  is  14  feet,  and  at  each  end  of  each 
tunnel  a  vertical  shaft  connects  the  tunnel  with  the  grade  tunnel  above.  If  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  did  not  offer  suitable  rock  for  a  rock  tunnel,  or  if  there  were  other  prohibitive  reasons, 
steel  siphons  were  used.  These  are  9  feet  and  1 1  feet  in  diameter.  They  arc  lined  with  two 
inches  of^  cement  mortar  and  arc  imbedded  in  concrete  and  covered  with  an  cartli  embank- 
rnent.  There  are  fourteen  of  these  pipe  siphons  of  a  total  length  of  six  miles.  At  present  one 
pipe  suffices  to  carry  the  water.     Ultimately  three  will  be  required  for  each  siphon. 


506 


THE   REAL  SOURCE   OF  THE  WATER 


of  dollars  to  make  its  supply  of  water 
good  and  certain.  Occasionally  we 
come  to  a  little  stone  house  along  the 
way  where  we  can  go  down  and  see  the 
sides  of  the  great  stone  pipe.  After 
a  while,  however,  we  find  our  aqueduct 
road  comes  to  an  abrupt  stop  before 
another  great  stone  wall.  It  is  the 
great  dam  which  has  been  built  out 
there  in  the  country  to  fonn  one  end  of 
a  great  tank  that  catches  and  holds  the 
waters  from  the  creeks  and  rivers  that 
flow  into  it.  Usually  the  dam  is  built 
up  right  across  a  river.  They  simply 
build  the  dam  strong  enough  to  stop 
the  river  from  going  any  further.  Then, 
of  course,  the  water  piles  up  on  the  other 
side  of  the  dam  and  occasionally  this 
tank,  which  is  simply  another  huge 
reserA'oir,  gets  so  full  that  the  water 
flows  over.  It  does  not  really  over- 
flow the  top  of  the  dam,  because  under- 
neath the  top  the  engineers  have  left 
openings  here  and  there  for  the  water 
to  get  through.  If  it  were  not  for  these 
loopholes,  so  to  speak,  the  great  wall 
of    water    within    the    reservoir,    piled 


against  the  dam,  would  break  down 
the  wall  no  matter  how  well  built,  by 
the  great  pressure  it  exerts. 

We  are  now  near  to  the  real  source 
of  the  water.  We  take  a  trip  around 
the  top  of  the  great  reservoir.  Around 
at  the  other  end  we  find  what  looks 
like  a  river,  excepting  that  there  isn't 
any  current  to  speak  of.  It  is  a 
river,  but  a  much  deeper  one  than  it 
would  have  been  but  for  the  dam  which 
has  been  built  across  it,  and  originally 
its  surface  was  quite  far  down  in  a 
valley.  Sometimes  man  makes  his 
water  dam  at  one  end  of  a  lake,  which 
has  been  formed  by  streams  flowing 
into  a  valley  which  has  no  opening 
for  the  water  to  run  out  of.  In  these 
cases  the  lake  will  be  high  up  in  the 
hills  and  man  simply  builds  his  dam 
at  one  end,  lets  the  end  of  his  aqueduct 
into  the  bottom  of  the  lake  and  the 
water  flows.  In  other  cases  he  picks 
out  a  valley  where  there  is  no  lake  at 
all,  builds  his  dam  and  then  drains 
the  water  which  he  finds  in  small 
lakes  higher  up  in  the  hills  into  the  one 


THROL-GH  THIS  CH.\MBER  THE  FLOW  OF   WATER  TO  THE   AOlEnrCT  IS  REGULATED. 


DIGGING   A  HOLE   UNDER  A   RIVER 


50i 


DIAMOND  DRILL  BORIXG  A  HORIZONTAL  HOLE   IIOO  FEET  BELOW  THE  HUDSON  RIVER. 


HUDSON  RIVER  SIPHON,    IIOO  FEET  BELOW  THE  RIVER. 

Of  the  many  siphons  constructed,  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  difficult  is  that  which 
hoj  been  completed  beneath  the  Hudson  River.  The  preliminary  borings  made  from  scovys 
in  the  river  showed  that  great  depths  would  have  to  be  reached  before  rock  sufficiently  solid 
ar  J  free  from  seams  was  encountered  to  withstand  the  enormous  hydraulic  pressure  of  the 
w£.ter  in  the  tunnel.  After  failing  to  reach  rock  by  the  scow  drills,  two  series  of  inclined  bor- 
ings were  made  from  each  shore,  one  pair  intercepting  at  aljout  goo  feet  depth  and  the  other 
at  about  1500  feet.  Both  showed  satisfactory  rock,  and  accordingly  a  shaft  was  sunk  on  each 
shore,  to  a  depth  of  approximately  iioo  feet,  and  then  a  horizontal  tunnel  was  driven  conncct- 
inc:  the  two.  It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  because  of  the  enormous  head,  whicli  must  be  measured 
frf;m  the  flow  line  far  above  the  river  surface,  the  pressure  in  the  horizontal  tunnel  reaches  over 
forty  tons  per  square  foot. 


508  THE   HIGHEST   BUILDING    IN  THE  WORLD   UPSIDE   DOWN 


This  picture 
shows  the  depth 
to  which  the  pipes 
which  carry  the 
water  through  the 
city  must  some- 
times be  sunk  in 
order  that  it  will 
be  certain  to  re- 
main in  place.  To 
illustrate  this  in 
connection  with 
the  depth  of  the 
water  tunnel  in 
one  place  in  the 
city  of  New  York, 
our  artist  has 
taken  the  liberty 


of  turning  the 
Woolworth  Build- 
ing upside  down. 
Even  this  build- 
ing, which  is  the 
tallest  business 
building  in  the 
world,  and  is  792 
feet  high,  would 
not  penetrate  the 
water  tunnel,  at 
the  point  shown, 
which  is  at  the 
CHnton  Street 
shaft  at  the  west 
bank  of  the  East 
River.  « 


WHAT   IS   CARBONIC   ACID? 


509 


big  valley  and  makes  a  very  large  lake. 
But  the  water  in  the  lakes  comes 
originally  from  the  creeks,  rivers  or 
springs  which  run  into  it,  and  so  we 
will  follow  our  original  river  back  into 
the  hills.  Here  and  there  along  its 
course  we  find  a  little  stream  flowing 
into  our  river  and,  as  we  go  up  higher 
and  higher  into  the  hills,  we  find  our 
river  getting  smaller  and  smaller.  Now 
it  is  only  a  creek  and,  if  we  go  far  enough, 
we  find  its  source  but  the  tiniest  kind 
of  a  tinkling  brook  with  the  water 
dripping  almost  noiselessly  between  the 
rocks  as  it  makes  its  path  down  the 
side  of  the  hill.  There  is  the  source  of 
the  water  in  the  glass  you  have  just 
enjoyed.] 

What  is  Carbonic  Acid? 

It  was  formerly  called  fixed  air,  and 
is  a  gaseous  compound  of  carbon  and 
oxygen.  It  is  procured  by  the  pro- 
cesses of  combustion  and  respiration, 
and  hence  is  always  present  in  the  air, 
though  in  minute  quantity.  Plants  live 
upon  it  and  absorb  it  into  their  tissues ; 
they  abstract  and  assimilate  its  carbon, 
and  return  its  oxygen  to  the  atmosphere 
in  a  pure  condition.  It  is  also  present 
in  spring  water,  and  often  in  quantities, 
so  that  it  sparkles  and  effervesces ;  it 
is  also  produced  during  the  processes 
of  putrefaction,  fermentation,  and  slow 
decay  of  animal  and  vegetable  sub- 
stances in  presence  of  air.  It  is  largely 
employed  by  the  manufacturers  of 
aerated  bread  and  aerated  waters. 
Under  a  pressure  of  about  600  pounds 
it  liquefies,  and  when  allowed  to 
escape  through  a  small  jet  it  rap- 
idly evaporates  and  causes  intense 
cold,  so  much  so  as  to  become  frozen. 
It  does  not  support  burning.  The  gas 
derived  from  it,  carbon  dioxide,  is  in- 
visible, and  is  heavier  than  air  by  one 
half,  and  has  a  pungent  odor  and 
slightly  acid  taste.  In  a  pure  state  the 
gas  cannot  be  respired,  as  it  supports 
neither  respiration  nor  combustion. 
When  the  portion  in  the  atmos])here  is 
increased  to  a  considerable  extent,  as 
happens  sometimes,  it  endangers  life. 
The  familiar  "rising"  of  bread  is 
brought    about    by    carbonic    acid    gas 


escaping  through  and  permeating  the 
dough,  making  it  light  and  porous.  In 
this  form  it  is  known  as  yeast  or  as 
baking  powder.  We  see  its  uses  also  in 
the  chemical  fire-engine. 

In  some  parts  of  the  world  large 
quantities  of  carbonic  acid  gas  are  con- 
stantly issuing  from  openings  of  the 
earth's  surface.  Two  such  places  are 
the  famous  Poison  V^alley  of  Java,  and 
the  Grotto  del  Cane,  near  Naples,  in 
Italy.  The  former  is  a  small  valley 
about  a  half  a  mile  around  and  about 
thirty-five  feet  deep,  in  which  the  air 
is  so  loaded  with  carbonic  acid  gas  that 
animals  entering  it  are  killed  in  a  few 
minutes.  Even  birds  that  fly  over  the 
valley  are  overcome  if  they  do  not  rise 
high  above  it.  The  Grotto  del  Cane, 
or  Grotto  of  the  Dog,  is  a  small  cavern 
in  the  crater  of  a  volcano.  A  stream 
of  carbonic  acid  gas  flows  constantly 
into  the  grotto,  but  the  level  of  the  gas 
does  not  reach  the  height  of  a  man's 
mouth.  When  the  same  air  is  breathed 
over  and  over  again,  the  quantity  of 
carbonic  acid  in  it  is  increased  so  much, 
that  it  may  become  as  deadly  as  the  air 
in  the  Poison  Valley. 

Two  other  gases  that  may  generally 
be  found  in  air  are  ozone  and  ammonia. 
The  first  is  merely  a  form  of  oxygen 
that  is  produced  by  the  passage  of 
lightning  through  the  air.  After  severe 
thunderstorms,  it  is  said  to  be  present, 
sometimes,  in  sufficient  proportion  to 
give  to  the  air  a  slightly  pungent  odor. 
It  is  more  active  chemically  than  is  the 
ordinary  form  of  oxygen,  and  conse- 
quently has  a  stimulating  effect  upon 
animals. 

Ammonia,  or  hartshorn,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
formerly  obtained  by  distilling  the 
horns  of  harts,  or  deer,  is  almost  always 
present  in  the  air  in  small  quantities.  It 
is  produced  chiefly  by  the  decay  of  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  matter,  especially  the 
former.  Though  present  in  the  air  in 
very  small  quantities,  it  is  of  much 
value  to  the  plant  world,  because  it  con- 
tains nitrogen  in  a  form  in  which  it  can 
be  readily  absorbed  by  plants.  All 
plants  contain  some  nitrogen,  which  is 
essential     to    their    growth,     but     the 


510 


VARIOUS   GASES  FOUND    IN  AIR 


greater  part  of  the  nitrogen  in  the  air 
is  not  in  such  form  that  it  can  be  ab- 
sorbed by  them.  They  must  obtain 
their  supply  from  the  soil,  which  usu- 
ally contains  some  nitrogen  in  a  form 
that  may  be  taken  up  by  plants,  and 
from  the  ammonia  in  the  air.  The  lat- 
ter is  not  taken  directly  out  of  the  air 
by  the  plants,  but  the  rains  falling 
through  the  air  absorb  the  ammonia 
and  carry  it  to  the  soil,  from  which  it 
is  taken  up  into  the  plants  by  their 
roots. 

Besides  the  gases  that  have  been 
mentioned,  there  is  present  in  the  air, 
at  all  times,  a  small  quantity  of  water- 
vapor,  which  is,  in  many  ways  as  im- 
portant to  mankind  as  is  the  oxygen  it- 
self. The  quantity  of  water  in  the  air 
ib  not  always  the  same.  As  a  rule,  the 
quantity  is  greater  in  warm  air  than  in 
cold,  and  is  less  over  land  than  over 
water.  Frequently  the  air  feels  damp 
in  cold  weather,  and  dry  in  hot  weather, 
and  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  there 
is  more  vapor  in  the  air  on  the  damp 
day  than  on  the  dry  one.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  always  true.  There  is  usu- 
ally more  moisture  in  the  air  on  a  warm 
summer  day  than  on  a  cold  day  in  win- 
ter, though  the  winter  day  may  seem 
m.uch  more  moist.  You  will  be  able  to 
understand  why  this  is  so  by  compar- 
ing the  air  to  a  sponge.  If  we  fill  a 
sponge  with  water,  and  squeeze  it 
gently,  a  httle  water  will  be  forced  out 
of  it.  If  we  then  remove  the  pres- 
sure on  the  sponge.  When  the  air  cools, 
will  appear  dry  on  the  surface,  but 
there  will  still  be  water  in  it,  and  on 
being  squeezed  harder  than  before  it 
will  again  become  moist  on  the  surface 
and  more  water  will  be  forced  out  of  it. 
Now  cold  has  an  efifect  upon  moisture- 
laden  air  very  much  like  that  of  pres- 
sure on  the  sponge.  When  the  air  cools, 
some  of  the  moisture  is  forced  out  of 
it.  and  the  air  seems  damp.  When  it 
warms  again,  the  air  seems  dry,  though 
there  is  still  water-vapor  in  it.  It 
seems  dr}^  because  it  can  absorb  more 
water-vapor,  just  as  the  sponge  seems 
dry  after  you  cease  to  squeeze  it,  though 
it  still  contains  water.  From  this  we 
see  that  the  air  does  not  always  seem 


moist  when  there  is  much  water-vapor 
in  it,  nor  dry  when  there  is  only  a  lit- 
tle. It  feels  moist  when  there  is  as  much 
water-vapor  present  as  it  can  hold,  and 
dry  when  it  can  hold  more  than  it  al- 
ready has.  And  we  also  see  that  in 
hot  weather  the  air  can  hold  much 
more  moisture  than  it  can  in  cold 
weather,  so  that  whether  the  air  feels 
dry  or  moist,  there  is  generally  much 
more  water-vapor  in  it  in  hot  weather 
than  in  cold. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that,  over  water,  the 
air  naturally  takes  up  more  moisture 
than  over  land,  because  there  is  so  much 
more  water  there  to  be  transformed 
into  vapor.  Over  the  surface  of  seas, 
lakes  and  rivers,  water  is  continually 
being  converted  into  vapor  by  the 
process  of  evaporation,  and  this  vapor 
is  absorbed  by  the  air. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  solid  par- 
ticles floating  in  the  air,  the  dust  that 
is  seen  dancing  in  the  path  of  a  sun- 
beam. Whenever  we  examine  the  air, 
these  small  particles  are  found,  even  on 
the  tops  of  mountains,  and  at  points  so 
high  above  the  earth  that  they  have 
been  reached  only  by  balloons.  Of 
course,  there  is  very  much  less  dust 
high  above  the  earth  than  near  the  sur- 
face, where  the  winds  are  constantly 
stirring  up  the  loose  soil,  and  throwing 
into  the  air  small  particles  of  every 
kind.  In  cities,  where  factory  chim- 
neys are  continually  pouring  out  clouds 
of  smoke,  and  the  ])eople  and  vehicles 
are  constantly  disturbing  the  dust  of  the 
streets,  the  air  always  contains  more 
dust  than  does  the  air  of  the  country. 

In  order  that  we  may  breathe  air,  the 
oxygen  in  it  has  been  mixed  with  four 
times  as  much  nitrogen  and  argon, 
which  must  be  inhaled  with  the  oxygen, 
though  they  have  no  more  efYcct  on  the 
body  than  the  water  you  take  with  a 
strong  medicine  to  weaken  it.  The  oxy- 
gen, however,  has  a  very  important  ef- 
fect upon  the  body,  and  if  we  compare 
the  air  we  exhale  with  that  we  inhale 
we  find  considerably  less  oxygen  in  the 
former  than  in  the  latter.  In  place  of 
the  oxygen,  the  air  has  received  car- 
bonic acid  gas.  It  may  seem  very 
strange  to  say  that  there  is  burning  go- 


HOW   PLANTS   EAT  CARBONIC   ACID 


511 


ing  on  in  the  body,  but  that  is  very 
nearly  what  takes  place.  The  chief  dif- 
ference from  coal-burning  is  that  in  the 
body  the  process  goes  on  so  slowly  that 
it  does  not  make  the  body  very  hot ;  but 
when  we  set  fire  to  coal,  the  process  is 
much  more  rapid,  and  a  large  amount 
of  heat  is  produced  in  a  short  time,  so 
that  the  coal  becomes  very  hot.  The 
jjroducts  of  breathing  and  of  coal-burn- 
ing are  the  same,  carbonic  acid  gas  be- 
ing the  chief  one.  When  coal  is  burned 
it  disappears,  together  with  some  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  air,  and  in  their  stead  we 
have  carbonic  acid  gas.  When  a  breath 
is  taken  some  of  the  material  of  the 
body  disappears,  as  does  some  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  air,  and  in  place  of  them 
carbonic  acid  gas  is  found.  If  we 
could  weigh  the  coal  burned  and  the 
oxygen  that  disappears  in  the  burning 
of  it,  and  could  then  weigh  the  car- 
bonic acid  gas  that  is  produced  in  the 
burning,  we  should  find  that  the  latter 
weighs  just  as  much  as  the  coal  and  the 
oxygen  together.  So,  too,  if  we  could 
v.'eigh  the  oxygen  that  disappears  from 
the  air  we  breathe,  and  also  find  the 
weight  of  the  material  taken  from  our 
bodies  by  breathing,  we  should  find 
that  the  two  together  weigh  just  as 
much  as  the  carbonic  acid  gas  given  off 
in  our  breath.  In  neither  case  is  any- 
thing absolutely  destroyed;  the  sub- 
stances resulting  from  the  change 
weigh  just  as  much  as  those  that  took 
part  in  it. 

Having  learned  that  a  quantity  of 
oxygen  disappears  every  time  we  take 
a  breath,  every  time  we  build  a  fire,  it 
would  seem  that  in  the  thousands  of 
vears  during  which  men  and  animals 
have  been  living  on  the  earth,  all  the 
oxygen  would  have  been  exhausted  and 
nothing  left  in  its  place  but  carbonic 
a^id  gas.  That,  however,  is  impossible, 
v.s  the  carbonic  acid  gas  is  used  up  al- 
most as  fast  as  it  is  produced  ancl  the 
oxygen  is  returned  to  the  air  in  its 
stead. 

All  trees  and  ]jlants,  from  the  great 
redwood  trees  of  California  to  the 
smallest  flowers  that  dot  the  fields,  need 
(Tirbonic  acid  gas  to  keep  them  alive 
and  to  make  them  grow.     Their  leaves 


have  the  power  when  the  sun  shines  on 
them  to  take  up  carbonic  acid  from  the 
air  and  to  return  oxygen  in  exchange, 
In  this  way  you  see  that  the  balance  is 
kept  just  as  it  should  be.  The  oxygen 
needed  by  animals  of  all  kinds  is  fur- 
nished by  the  plants,  and  the  carbonic 
acid  required  by  plants  is  thrown  off 
in  the  breath  of  animals. 

Is  It  a  Fact  that  the  Sun  Revolves  On 

Its  Axis? 

It  is  a  proved  fact  that  the  sun  re- 
volves on  its  axis.  All  parts  of  its 
surface,  however,  do  not  rotate  with 
the  same  velocity.  The  rotation  of  the 
sun  dift'ers  from  that  of  the  earth  in 
this   respect. 

This  constitutes  the  visible  proof  that 
the  physical  state  of  the  sun  is  different 
from  the  earth's,  although  they  are 
composed  of  similar  chemical  elements. 

The  earth,  being  covered  with  a  solid 
crust,  and  being  also,  as  recent  inves- 
tigation demonstrates,  as  rigid  as  steel 
throughout  its  entire  globe,  rotates 
with  one  and  the  same  angular  velocity 
from  the  equator  to  the  poles. 

If  you  stood  on  the  earth's  equator 
you  would  be  carried  by  its  daily  rota- 
tion round  a  circle  about  25,000  miles 
in  circumference.  If  you  stood  within 
a  yard  of  the  North  or  South  Pole 
you  would  be  carried,  by  the  same 
motion,  round  a  circle  not  quite  19 
feet  in  circumference.  And  yet  it 
would  require  precisely  the  same  time, 
viz.,  twenty-four  hours,  to  describe  the 
19-foot  circle  as  the  25,000-mile  one. 

What  Is   the    Most   Usefully  Valuable 
Metal  ? 

If  you  were  guessing  you  would 
naturally  say  that  gold  is,  of  course,  the 
most  valuable  of  the  metals.  But  you 
would  be  wrong.  The  proper  answer  to 
this  is  iron.  We  do  not  mean  the  pound 
for  pound  value,  for  you  could  get  much 
more  money  for  a  pound  of  gold  than 
for  a  yjound  of  iron,  but  we  mean  in 
useful  value; — iron  is  in  that  scn.se  the 
most  vakial)le  metal  known  to  man. 
This  is  so  because  iron  is  of  great  ser- 
vice to  man  in  so  many  different  ways, 
and  it  is  very  well  that  there  is  so  great 
a  quantity  of  it  for  man's  use. 


512 


WHERE    DOES  TOBACCO    COA\E    FROM? 


GROWING  TOBACCO  UNDER  CHEESECLOTH. 


The  Story  in  a  Pipe  and  Cigar* 


Where   Did   the    Name    Tobacco    Origi- 
nate ? 

It  is  now  generally  agreed  that  the 
word  tobacco  is  derived  from  "  tobago," 
which  was  an  Indian  pipe.  The  tobago 
was  Y-shaped,  and  usually  consisted 
of  a  hollow,  forked  reed,  the  two 
prongs  of  which  were  fitted  into  the 
nostrils,  the  smoke  being  drawn  from 
tobacco  placed  in  the  end  of  the  stem. 
The  island  of  Tobago,  contrary-  to  the 
belief  of  many,  did  not  furnish  the 
name  for  tobacco,  but  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  given  that  name  by 
Columbus,  owing  to  its  resemblance 
in  shape  to  the  Indian  pipe. 

How  Was  Tobacco  Discovered? 

While  tobacco  is  now  found  growing 
in  all  inhabited  cotmtries,  it  is  a  native 
of  the  Americas  and  adjacent  islands. 
Its  discover}-  by  ci^■ilized  man  was 
coincident  with  the  discover},-  of  this 
continent  by  Christopher  Columbus  in 
1492.     Columbus  and  his  adventtirous 


sailors  foimd  the  native  Indians  using 
the  weed  on  the  explorer's  first  visit 
to  the  new  world.  Investigation  has 
established  that  the  plant  was  first 
used  as  a  religious  rite  and  gradually 
became  a  social  habit  among  the 
natives.  Columbus  and  his  CastiUan 
successors  carried  the  weed  to  Spain. 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  took  it  to  England, 
Jean  Xicot,  whose  name  is  immor- 
talized in  nicotine,  introduced  it  to 
the  French;  adventurous  traders 
brought  the  seed  to  Turkey  and  Syria, 
and  Spanish  argosies  carried  it  west- 
ward from  Mexico  to  the  Philippines 
and  thence  to  China  and  Japan.  Thus 
within  two  centuries  after  its  discovery 
tobacco  was  being  cultivated  in  nearly 
every  country-  and  was  being  used  by 
ever\'  race  of  men. 

Where  Does  Tobacco  Grow? 

While  tobacco  is  a  native  of  the 
Americas,  it  is  a  fact  that  it  -^-ill  grow 
after  a  fashion  almost  an}-\\-here.  Mil- 
ton Whitnev,  Chief  of  the  Division  of 


*  CopjTight  by  Tobacco  Leaf  Publishing  Co. 


WHERE  HAVANA  TOBACCO  IS  GROWN 


513 


Soils,  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  in  his  bulletin  on  tobacco 
soils  says  tobacco  can  be  grown  in 
nearly  all  parts  of  the  countn,-  even 
where  wheat  and  com  cannot  econom- 
ically be  grown.  The  plant  readily 
adapts  itself  to  the  great  range  of 
climatic  conditions,  will  grow  on  nearly 
all  kinds  of  soil  and  has  a  comparatively 
short  season  of  growth.  But  while  it 
can  be  so  universally  grown,  the  flavor 
and  quality  of  the  leaf  are  greatly 
influenced  by  the  conditions  of  climate 
and  soil.  The  industn,-  has  been  very 
highly  specialized  and  there  is  only 
demand  now  for  tobacco  possessing 
certain  qualities  adapted  to  certain 
specific  purposes.  ...  It  is  a  curious 
and  interesting  fact  that  tobacco  suit- 
able for  our  domestic  cigars,  is  raised  in 
Sumatra,  Cuba  and  Florida,  and  then 
passing  over  oiu*  middle  tobacco  States 
the  cigar  type  is  found  again  in  IMassa- 
chusetts,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio  and  "Wisconsin.  .  .  It  is  sur- 
prising to  find  so  little  difference  in  the 
meteorological  record  for  these  several 
places  diuing  the  crop  season.  There 
does  not  seem  to  be  siifficient  difference 
to  explain  the  distribution  of  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  tobacco,  and  3'et  this 
distribution  is  probabh'  due  mainly 
to  climatic  conditions.  .  .  .  The  plant 
is  far  more  sensitive  to  these  meteorlog- 
ical  conditions  than  are  our  instnmients. 
Even  in  such  a  famous  tobacco  region 
as  Cuba,  tobacco  of  good  quality  can- 
not be  grown  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  ocean  or  in  certain  parts  of  the 
island  that  would  otherwise  be  con- 
sidered good  tobacco  lands.  This  has 
been  experienced  also  in  Siimatra  and 
in  our  own  country',  but  the  influences 
are  too  subtle  to  be  detected  b>'  our 
meteorological  instniments.  .  .  .  Under 
good  climatic  conditions,  the  class 
and  type  of  tobacco  depend  upon  the 
character  of  the  soil,  especially  on  the 
physical  character  of  the  soil  upon 
which  it  is  grown,  while  the  grade  is 
dependent  largely  upon  the  cultivation 
and  curing  of  the  crop.  Different 
types  of  tobacco  are  grown  on  \\'idely 
different  soils  all  the  way  from  the 
coarse  sandy  lands  of  the  Pine  Barrens, 
to  the  heavy,  clay,  limestone,  com  and 


.  wheat  lands.  The  best  soil  for  one 
kind  of  tobacco,  therefore,  ma}^  be 
almost  worthless  for  the  staple  agri- 
cultural crops,  while  the  best  for 
another  type  of  tobacco  may  be  the 
richest  and  most  productive  soil  of 
any  that  we  have. 

Havana  tobacco,  which  means  all 
tobacco  grown  on  the  island  of  Cuba, 
possesses  peculiar  qualities  which  make 
it  the  finest  tobacco  in  the  world  for 
cigar  purposes.  The  island  produces 
from  350,000  to  500,000  bales  annually, 
of  which  150,000  to  250,000  bales  come 
to  the  United  States  for  use  in  American 
cigar  factories.  The  best  quality  of  the 
Cuban  tobacco  comes  largely  from  the 
Vuelta  Abajo  section,  although  some 
very  choice  tobaccos  are  raised  also 
in  the  Partidos  section.  Remedios 
tobaccos  are  more  heavily  bodied  than 
than  others  and  are  used  almost  ex- 
clusively for  blending  with  our  domestic 
tobaccos.  While  there  are  innimierable 
sub-classifications,  such  as  Semi- 
Vueltas,  Remates,  Tumbadero,  etc., 
the  three  general  divisions  named 
above,  Vuelta  Abajo,  Partidos  and 
Remedios,  embrace  the  entire  island. 
If  a  fourth  general  classification  were 
to  be  added,  it  would  be  Semi-Vueltas. 
The  ^"uelta  Abajo  is  grown  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Pinar  del  Rio,  located  at  the 
western  end  of  the  island.  It  is  raised 
practically  throughout  the  entire  prov- 
ince. Semi-\'ueltas  are  also  grown 
in  Pinar  del  Rio,  but  the  trade  draws 
a  line  between  them  and  the  genuine 
Vueltas.  Partidos  tobacco,  which  is 
grown  principally  in  the  ProA-ince  of 
Havana,  differs  from  the  ^"'uelta  Abajo 
in  that  it  is  of  a  much  lighter  quality. 
The  Partidos  country  is  famous  for  its 
production  of  fine  light  glossy  wrappers. 
Tobacco  from  the  foregoing  sections 
is  used  principally  in  the  manufacture 
of  clear  Havana  cigars.  Some  of  the 
heavier  Vueltas,  however,  are  also 
used  for  seed  and  Havana  cigar  pur- 
poses. Remedios,  othenA-ise  known  as 
Vuelta-Arriba,  is  grown  in  the  Pro\4nce 
of  Santa  Clara,  located  in  the  center 
of  the  island.  This  tobacco  is  taken 
almost  entirely  by  the  United  States 
and  Europe  and  is  used  here  for  filler 
purposes,  principally  in  seed  and  Hav- 


514 


HOW  TOBACCO  IS  PLANTED 


ana  cigars.  Its  general  characteris- 
tics are  a  high  flavor  and  rather  heavy 
body,  ^Yhich  make  it  especially  suitable 
for  blending  with  our  domestic  tobaccos. 
Havana  tobacco  is  packed  and  marketed 
in  bales. 

Preparing  the  Seed  Beds. 

The  first  step  is  the  preparation  of 
the  seed  beds.  For  these  beds  low, 
rich,  hardwood  lands  are  selected. 
The  trees  are  cut  down  and  the  wood 
split,  converted  into  cord  wood  and 
piled  up  to  dry.  About  the  middle 
of  January  this  wood  is  stacked  up  on 
skid  poles  and  ignited.  The  ground 
is  thus  cleared  by  burning,  the  fires 
being  moved  from  spot  to  spot  until  a 
sufficient  area  is  cleared.  By  this 
process  all  grass,  weeds,  brush  and 
insects  are  eradicated.  The  ground  is 
then  dug  up  with  hoes  and.  cleared 
off  and  a  perfect  seed  bed  is  made. 

The  tobacco  seed  is  first  mixed  with 
dry  ashes  in  the  proportion  of  about 
a  tablespoonful  of  seed  to  a  gallon  of 
the  ashes,  and  about  this  quantity 
is  sowed  over  a  square  rod  of  land. 
This  amount  is  calculated  to  supply 
plants  enough  for  one  acre  of  ground, 
but  the  farmers  usually  double  the 
planting  as  a  precaution  against  emer- 
gencies. After  the  seed  beds  are  sowed 
they  are  covered  over  with  cheesecloth 
as  a  means  of  protection,  and  they  are 
carefully  weeded  and  watered  until  the 
leaves  have  attained  a  length  of  about 
four  inches.  They  are  then  ready  for 
transplanting,  which  operation  begins 
about  the  middle  of  April. 

Fertilization. 

In  the  meantime,  the  tobacco-grow- 
ing areas  have  been  prepared  by  plow- 
ing and  fertilizing.  The  matter  of 
fertilization  has  been  the  subject  of 
much  study  and  many  experiments, 
and  it  has  been  definitely  established 
that  cow  manure  is  one  of  the  best  for 
this  purpose.  This  natural  fertilizer 
is  distributed  on  the  fields  at  the  rate 
of  ten  to  twenty  two-horse  loads  to 
each  acre.  In  addition  to  this  from 
two  hundred  to  three  hundred  pounds 


of  carbonate  of  potash,  and  from  two 
thousand  to  three  thousand  pounds  of 
bright  cottonseed  meal  are  employed. 
The  total  cost  of  this  fertilizer  amounts 
to  about  $120  per  acre. 

Planting. 

After  the  fertilizer  is  well  plowed  into 
the  land  the  ground  is  laid  off  into 
ridges  about  four  feet  apart,  made  by 
throwing  two  one-horse  furrows  to- 
gether. These  ridges  are  about  two 
feet  in  width  and  are  flattened  on  the 
top  so  as  to  make  a  level  bed  for  the 
young  plant.  The  farmer  then  meas- 
ures off  ai^d  marks  these  rows  at  inter- 
vals of  16  to  18  inches.  At  each  mark 
he  makes  a  small  hole,  and  after  pour- 
ing in  a  pint  of  water  the  plant  is  care- 
fully set.  Machine  planters  are  used 
for  this  purpose  to  a  limited  extent. 

Care  of  the  Growing  Crop. 

The  growers  usually  calculate  on 
finishing  their  planting  about  the  first 
of  June.  The  young  plants  are  then 
closely  watched  and  are  hoed  and 
cultivated  at  least  once  a  week.  They 
are  also  supplied  with  sufficient  water 
to  keep  them  alive  and  growing.  At 
this  stage  of  the  proceedings,  the 
planter  begins  to  look  out  for  worms. 
The  butter  worm  is  one  of  his  greatest 
enemies.  This  is  a  small  green  moth 
that  lays  its  eggs  in  the  bud  of  the 
plant  and  turns  into  a  worm  two  days 
later.  To  stop  the  ravages  of  this 
insect,  it  is  customary  to  use  a  mixture 
composed  of  some  insecticide  mixed 
with  com  meal.  A  small  pinch  of  this 
mixture  is  inserted  at  regular  intervals 
in  the  bud  of  each  plant  imtil  the  plant 
is  nearly  grown. 

When  the  tobacco  is  about  three 
feet  high,  all  such  leaves  as  were  on 
the  plant  when  it  was  first  set  out  are 
picked  off  and  thrown  away.  About 
this  time  the  crop  is  usually  threatened 
by  another  enemy  known  as  the  horn 
worm.  This  is  a  large,  mouse-colored 
moth,  w^hich  swarms  over  the  field 
about  sun-down,  and  deposits  green 
eggs  about  the  size  of  a  very  small 
bird  shot,  on  the  back  sides  of  the  leaves. 


HOW  THE   TOBACCO  IS   HARVESTED 


515 


f 

.  ;"'-^?f?^           ^Jjt 

1 

m^^^^^^^M 

Slii 

■■\^^.  -j^"- 

m~ 

MIm|S^^f^mK^B 

m^ 

FfiH^Uy^H!^y|BBR^. 

*f^W' 

^ 

hMj^-j^i 

A  FIELD  OF  FINE  HAVANA. 

This  is  a  very  ravenous  insect  and 
unless  carefully  watched  it  will  devour 
every  leaf  of  tobacco,  leaving  nothing 
but  the  stalks  standing.  It  is  removed 
by  picking  off  and  by  insecticides. 

Harvesting. 

About  sixty  to  ninety  days  after 
setting,  the  bottom  leaves  on  the  plant 
are  ripe  and  the  grower  is  able  to  remove 
from  three  to  four  on  each  stalk.  This 
is  called  priming.  The  primer  detaches 
each  leaf  carefully  and  places  it  face 
down  in  his  left  hand,  inspecting  it  at 
the  same  time  to  see  that  no  worms 
are  carried  to  the  barns.  Upon 
accumulating  a  handful,  he  places 
them  in  baskets  that  are  lined  with 
burlap  to  prevent  injury  to  the  leaf, 
and  the  filled  baskets  are  either  carried 
or  hauled  to  the  barns. 

About  this  time  the  plants  have 
begun  to  bud  out  at  the  top,  and  this 
bud,  with  a  few  small  leaves  around  it, 
is  Vjrokcn  off.  This  process  is  called 
topping,  and  is  done  for  the  purpose 
of  confining  the  development  of  the 
plant  to  the  leaves  below.  After 
lo])ping,  the  priming  of  the  tobacco  is 
ccjntinued  for  about  three  weeks,  and 
until  all  the  upper  leaves  of  marketa])le 
value    have    been    harvested.     In    the 


meantime,  the  suckering  has  to  be 
looked  after,  which  is  the  removing 
of  the  small  branches  that  have  a 
tendency  to  grow  out  of  the  main  stalk 
.of  the  plant. 

In  the  barns  the  leaves  are  placed  on 
long  tables,  behind  which  stand  the 
stringers.  They  string  the  leaves,  each 
separately,  on  strong  cotton  twine, 
about  thirty  leaves  to  a  string,  spaced 
about  an  inch  apart.  If  this  is  not 
done  carefully  and  accurately,  several 
leaves  may  become  bunched  together 
and  the  cure  will  thereby  be  impaired. 
It  is  attention  to  this  detail  which  pre- 
vents the  defect  known  as  pole-sweat. 
These  strings  are  tied  at  either  end 
to  a  tobacco  lath,  and  the  lath  is  hung 
upon  two  poles.  These  poles  are  placed 
in  courses  in  the  barn,  at  spaces  of  two 
feet,  one  above  the  other. 

Here  the  tobacco  undergoes  its  pre- 
liminary, or  bam  cure,  and  during 
this  period  the  grower  is  constantly 
on  the  anxious  seat,   having  to  open 


A  M()0E':RN  CUHAN  TOHAC  CO  I'LANTATION. 


516 


HOW  TOBACCO   IS   CURED 


and  close  his  curing  houses  according 
to  the  changes  in  the  weather,  and 
to  look  closely  after  the  ventilation 
of  his  crop  in  order  to  avoid  the  develop- 
ment of  stem  rot  and  other  afflictions 
with  which  the  tobacco  is  threatened 
at  this  staerc  of  the  proceedings. 


A  STAND  OF  TOBACCO  IN  EACH  HAND. 

Bulk  Sweating. 

In  due  course  of  time  the  laths  are 
taken  down,  the  strings  removed  and 
the  leaves  are  formed  into  hands  and 
tied  with  a  string.  The  tobacco  is 
then  packed  temporarily  in  cases  and 
delivered  at  the  fermenting  house,  where 
it  is  put  into  what  is  known  as  the 
bulk  sweat.  This  consists  of  uniform 
piles    of    tobacco    covered    over    with 


blankets,  and  which  are  frequently 
"  turned  "  in  order  that  they  shall  cure 
evenly  and  not  become  too  dark  in 
color.  From  the  bulk  sweat  the  tobacco 
goes  to  the  sorting  tables,  where  it  is 
divided  into  numerous  grades  of  length 
and  color.  It  is  then  turned  over  to 
the  packers,   who  form  it  into  bales. 

How  is  Tobacco  Cultivated? 

As  the  young  plants  spring  up  and 
begin  to  grow,  they  are  thinned  out, 
watered  and  cared  for  until  along  in 
October  or  November,  and  as  soon  as 
the  weather  becomes  settled  for  the 
season,  the  little  seedlings  are  trans- 
planted into  the  field.  Some  growers 
use  shade,  but  most  of  the  tobacco  is 
grown  in  the  open.  The  plants  are 
placed  in  rows,  very  much  as  com  is 
planted,  only  farther  apart.  The  plants 
are  carefully  protected  from  weeds  and 
insects,  and  in  December  the  early 
tobacco  is  ready  to  be  harv^ested.  Here 
the  mode  of  procedure  differs  accord- 
ing to  the  discretion  of  the  grower. 
The  plan  universally  in  vogue  until 
recent  years  was  to  cut  the  plant  down 
at  the  base  of  the  stalk.  Lately, 
however,  the  more  scientific  growers 
harvest  their  tobacco  gradually,  pick- 
ing it  leaf  by  leaf,  according  as  they 
ripen  and  mature.  The  tobacco  is 
then  allowed  to  lie  in  the  field  until  the 
leaves  are  wilted.  The  stalks  (or  stems, 
according  to  the  method  followed)  are 
then  stiiing  on  cujes  or  poles,  so  that 
the  plants  hang  with  the  tips  down. 
The  tobacco  is  then  allowed  to  hang 
in  the  sun  until  it  is  dry  and  later 
carried  into  the  bams,  where  the  poles 
are  suspended  in  tiers  until  the  bam  is 
fiill.  Tobacco  bams  everywhere  are 
constructed  with  movable,  or  rather, 
adjustable,  side  and  end  walls  which 
permit  of  a  constant  adjustment  of 
the  ventilation.  While  hanging  in  the 
bam  the  tobacco  undergoes  its  pre- 
liminary cure  and  changes  in  color 
from  the  green  of  the  growing  plant 
to  a  yellowish  brown.  The  climatic 
changes  have  to  be  carefully  studied 
d-uring  this  process.  If  the  weather 
is  extremely  dry  it  is  customary  to 
keep  the  bams  closed  in  the  daytime 
and  to  open  the  ventilators  at  night. 


HOW  CIGARS  ARE  MADE 


517 


It  is  generally  desirable  to  keep  the 
tobacco  fairly  dry  while  it  is  under- 
going the  bam  cure.  After  a  few 
weeks,  and  when  the  hanging  tobacco 
has  reached  the  proper  stage  of  matur- 
ity, a  period  of  damp  weather  is  looked 
for  so  that  the  dry  leaves  may  be  re- 
handled  without  injury.  When  the 
desired  shower  comes  along  the  tobacco 
is  stripped  off  the  poles  and  placed  in 
pilon — that  is,  in  heaps,  or  piles,  on  the 
floors  of  the  barns  and  warehouses, 
each  pile  being  covered  with  blankets. 
Here,  being  in  a  compact  mass,  it 
undergoes  the  calentura,  or  fever,  by 
which  it  is  pretty  thoroughly  cured, 
the  color  changing  to  a  deeper  brown. 
After  about  two  weeks  in  the  piles  it 
is  sorted,  tied  into  small  bundles  or 
carrots,  and  these  in  turn  are  packed 
in  bales.  After  being  baled  the  tobacco, 
if  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed,  under- 
goes a  third  cure,  by  which  it  is  greatly 
improved  in  quality.  It  is  then  ready 
for  the  factory. 


ing  tobacco  from  the  direct  rays  of 
the  sun.  Thus  the  ripening  process 
is  slower,  causing  the  leaves  to  grow 
larger  and  thinner  and  less  gummy; 
and  being  thinner  and  less  gummy, 
they  are  of  a  lighter  color  when  finally 
cured.  This  method  is  employed  by 
some  growers  in  cigar-leaf  districts, 
such  as  Cuba,  Florida  and  Connecticut. 


A  TOBACCO  BAKN'. 

The  Shade-growing  Method. 

The  shade-growing  method  is  one  of 
the  institutions  of  modem  tobacco 
cultivation.  The  principle  is  this:  The 
sun,  shining  on  the  tobacco  plants, 
draws  the  nutrition  from  the  earth, 
and  the  plant  ripens  quickly,  the  leaves 
having  a  tendency  to  be  heavy-bodied 
and  not  very  large.  To  defeat  these 
results  and  produce  large,  thin,  silky 
leaves  for  cigar-wrapper  purposes,  the 
grower  sometimes  covers  his  field  with 
a  tent  of  cheesecloth  or  with  a  lattice- 
work of  lathing  which  protects  the  grow- 


TAKING  TOBACCO  FROM  BALES. 

How  Are  Cigars  Made? 

While  many  labor-saving  devices 
have  been  introduced  in  all  branches 
of  tobacco  manufacture,  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  in  the  production  of  the  best 
grade  of  cigars,  namely,  the  clear 
Havana,  the  work  is  done  entirely  by 
hand.  In  fact,  it  may  be  said  that  in 
the  process  of  manufacturing  fine  cigars 
exactly  the  same  principles  are  followed 
as  those  of  two  centuries  ago.  There 
has  been  much  improvement  in  the 
artisanship  of  the  worker,  of  course,  but 
no    rudimentary    change    in    method. 


518 


THE    GREAT   CARE  NECESSARY   IN   SELECTION 


In  the  manufacture  of  snuflf,  chewing 
and  pipe  tobacco,  cigarettes  and  all- 
tobacco  cigarettes,  machinery  plays  an 
important  part;  and  mechanical  de- 
vices are  also  used  extensively  in  the 
production  of  five-cent  cigars  and  in  the 
still  higher  priced  grades  of  part- 
domestic  cigars,  such  as  the  seed  and 
Havana.  Some  of  these  appliances 
are  almost  human  in  their  ingenuity. 
But  in  fashioning  the  tobacco  of  Cuba 
into  cigars  that  are  perfect  in  shape, 
in  fomiation  and  in  all  the  qualities 
that  go  to  make  a  good  cigar,  there  is 
no  substitute  for  the  human  hand. 

Upon  opening  a  bale  of  tobacco  the 
workman  takes  each  carrot  out  sep- 
arately, shakes  it  gently  to  separate 
the  leaves,  and  then  moistens  it,  either 
by  dipping  it  into  a  tub  of  water  from 
which  it  is  quickly  removed  and  shaken 
to  throw  off  the  surplus  water  or  else 
by  spraying  it  with  a  blower.  It  is 
left  in  this  condition  over  night,  so 
that  the  leaves  may  absorb  the  moisture 
and  become  uniformly  damp  and  pliable. 

The  tobacco  is  then  turned  over  to 
the  strippers,  who  remove  the  midrib 
from  each  leaf,  at  the  same  time  sep- 
arating the  wrapper  from  the  filler. 
From  this  point  on  the  treatment  of  the 
wrappers  and  fillers  is  different. 

The  half  leaves  suitable  for  fillers  are 
spread  out  and  placed  one  on  top  of  the 
other,  making  what  are  called  books. 
These  books  are  placed  side  by  side, 
closely  together,  on  a  board,  and  a 
similar  board  is  placed  on  top  of  the 
tobacco  to  hold  it  in  position.  Later, 
it  is  packed  into  barrels,  the  tops  of 
which  are  covered  with  burlap,  and 
there  it  undergoes  a  fermentation. 
It  is  usually  allowed  to  remain  in 
this  condition  for  ten  days  or  two  weeks, 
when  it  is  rehandled  and  inspected, 
and  if  found  to  be  in  the  right  condition, 
it  is  placed  on  racks,  where  it  remains 
until  it  is  in  just  the  proper  state  of 
dryness  to  be  ready  for  working. 

The  wrapper  leaves,  after  leaving  the 
hands  of  the  stripper,  are  taken  by  the 
wrapper  selector,  who  sits,  usually, 
at  a  barrel,  and  spreads  out  each  leaf, 
one  on  top  of  the  other,  over  the  edge 
of  the  barrel,  assorting  them  as  to  size, 
color,  etc.,  into  several  different  piles 


or  books.  Each  of  these  piles  is  divided 
into  packs  of  twenty-five  each,  and 
each  lot  of  twenty-five  is  folded  over 
into  what  is  called  a  "  pad  "  and  tied 
with  a  stem.  It  is  in  this  fonn  that 
they  go  to  the  cigarmaker. 

Every  morning  the  stock  is  dis- 
tributed among  the  cigannakers.  Each 
workman  is  given  enough  tobacco  to 
make  a  certain  number  of  cigars,  and 
when  his  work  is  finished  he  must 
return  either  the  full  number  of  cigars 
or  the  equivalent  in  unused  leaves. 

The  tools  of  the  cigarmaker  consist 
merel}^  of  a  square  piece  of  hardwood 
board,  a  knife  and  a  pot  of  gum  traga- 
canth.  He  sits  at  a  table  upon  which 
rests  the  board,  and  at  which  there  is 
also  a  gauge  on  which  the  different 
lengths  are  indicated.  Fastened  to  the 
front  of  each  table  is  a  sack  or  pocket 
of  burlap  into  which  the  cuttings  that 
accumulate  on  the  table  are  brushed. 
The  operator  deftly  cuts  his  wrapper 
from  the  leaf,  fashions  the  filler  into 
proper  form  and  size  in  the  palm  of  his 
hand  (this  is  known  as  the  "  bunch  ") 
and  rolls  the  tobacco  into  cigar  form. 
In  winding  the  wrapper  around  the 
"  bunch  "  the  operator  begins  at  the 
"  lighting  end  "  of  the  cigar,  called  the 
"  tuck,"  and  finishes  at  the  end  that 
goes  into  the  mouth,  which  is  called  the 
"  head."  A  bit  of  gum  tragacanth 
is  used  to  fasten  the  leaf  securely  at  the 
"  head."  The  cigar  is  then  held  to 
the  gauge  and  is  trimmed  smoothly 
off  to  the  proper  length  by  a  stroke  of 
the  knife  at  the  "  tuck."  The  cigars 
are  taken  up  in  bundles  of  fifty  each. 
They  next  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
selectors,  who  separate  them  into  dif- 
ferent piles,  according  to  the  color  of  the 
wrappers,  and  who  also  reject  any 
cigars  that  may  be  of  faulty  construc- 
tion. Broken  wrappers,  bad  colors  or 
any  other  defects  are  sufficient  to 
cause  the  rejection  of  a  cigar.  The 
rejected  cigars  are  known  as  resagos 
("throwouts  ")  or  secundos. 

From  the  selectors  the  cigars  go  to 
the  packers,  whose  duty  it  is  to  place 
them  in  the  boxes,  and  to  see  that  the 
colors  in  each  box  are  uniform,  marking 
the  temporary  color  classification  on 
each  box  in  lead  pencil.     After  being 


SOME  REMARKABLE  FIGURES  ABOUT  TOBACCO 


519 


packed,  the  filled  boxes  are  put  into 
a  press  and  so  left  for  twelve  hours 
or  until  the  cigars  conform  somewhat 
to  the  shape  of  the  box  which  con- 
tains them.  On  being  removed  from 
the  press,  if  to  be  banded,  the  cigars 
are  carefully  removed  in  layers  from 
the  box,  the  bands  afhxed,  and  the 
cigars  replaced.  The  goods  are  then 
placed  in  an  air-tight  vault  to  await 
shipment. 

When  the  cigarmaker  ties  up  his 
bundle  of  fifty  cigars,  he  attaches  to  it 
a  slip  of  paper  upon  which  is  marked 
his  number.  This  enables  the  manu- 
facturer to  keep  an  accurate  account 
of  the  number  of  cigars  made  by  each 
workman  and  also  to  place  the  respon- 
sibility for  any  defects  in  the  workman- 
ship. Cigarmakers  are  paid  by  the 
piece,  the  scale  of  wages  ranging  from 
$i6  to  $ioo  per  thousand.  In  nearly 
every  factory  there  may  be  found 
advanced  apprentices  or  old  men  work- 
ing at  the  rate  of  $14  per  thousand 
and  also  there  may  be  found  skilled 
artisans  making  exceptionally  large 
odd  sizes  at  more  than  $100  per  thou- 
sand, but  these  are  not  generally  con- 
sidered in  the  regulation  scale  of  prices. 
In  averages,  the  workmen  earn  about 
$18  a  week  and  make  about  150  cigars 
a  day. 

Just  a  Few  Figures  About  Tobacco. 

The  internal  revenue  from  tobacco 
for  one  year  woiild  build  fourteen 
battleships  of  the  first-class;  or  it 
would  pay  the  salary  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  for  nearly  a  thou- 
sand years.  It  would  pay  the  interest 
on  the  public  debt  for  three  years,  and 
there  would  be  enough  left  over  to  add 
a  dollar  to  the  account  of  every  savings 
bank  depositor  in  the  United  States. 

The  money  spent  by  smokers  for 
cigars  only,  not  counting  cigarettes, 
smoking  and  chewing  tobacco  and  snuff 
would  more  than  pay  for  the  building 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  besides  taking 
care  of  the  $50,000,000  paid  to  the 
new  French  Canal  Co.,  and  the  Republic 
of  Panama  for  i^roperty  and  franchises. 
And  in  addition  to  this  it  would  cover 
the  cost  of  fortifying  the  Canal. 


Or  it  woiild  build  a  fleet  of  thirty- 
five  trans-Atlantic  liners,  each  exactly 
like  the  lost  Titanic,  coal  them,  pro- 
vision them  and  keep  them  running 
between  New  York  and  Liverpool  with 
a  full  complement  of  passengers  and 
crew,  almost  indefinitely. 

There  are  21,718,448  cigars  burned  up 
in  the  United  States  every  twenty- 
four  hours;  and  904,935  every  hour; 
and  15,082  every  minute;  and  251 
every  second. 

The  annual  per  capita  consumption 
of  cigars  in  the  United  States,  count- 
ing men,  women  and  children,  is 
eighty-six  cigars. 

If  all  the  cigars  smoked  in  the  United 
States  in  one  year  were  put  together,  end 
to  end,  they  would  girdle  the  earth,  at 
its  largest  circumference,  twenty-two  times. 

As  TO  THE  CIGARETTES,  there  are 
23,736,190  of  them  consumed  in  the 
United  States  every  day;  and  989,007 
every  hour;  and  16,482  every  minute. 
With  every  tick  of  your  watch,  night 
and  day,  the  year  around,  the  butts 
of  2  7  5  smoked-up  cigarettes  are  dropped 
into  the  ash  tray. 

Cigarette  smokers  in  the  United 
States,  not  counting  those  who  roll 
their  own  smokes  from  tobacco,  spend 
$60,645,966.36  for  the  little  paper- 
covered  rolls. 

If  all  the  cigarettes  smoked  in  the 
United  States  in  one  year  were  placed 
end  to  end  and  stood  up  vertically 
they  would  make  a  slender  shaft  rising 
512,766  miles  into  the  heavens. 

//  strung  on  a  wire  they  would  make  a 
cable  that  would  reach  from  the  earth  to 
the  moon  and  back  again,  with  enough 
left  over  to  circle  one-and-a-half  times 
around  the  globe. 

If  this  quantity  of  tobacco  could  be 
placed  on  one  side  of  a  huge  balancing 
scale  it  would  take  the  combined  weight 
of  four  vast  annies,  each  army  con- 
vSisting  of  1,000,000  men,  to  pull  down 
the  other  side  of  the  scale. 

The  weight  of  the  tobacco  consumed 
in  the  United  States  in  a  year  is  equal 
to  the  weight  of  the  entire  and  com- 
bined ])Oimlation  of  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, West  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Ten- 
nessee and  Alabama. 


520 


HOW   OUR   FINGER   PRINTS    IDENTIFY   US 


arch:  ].\  THIS  PATTERN'  RIDGES  RUN  FROM 
ONE  SIDE  TO  AXOTHF.R,  MAKING  NO  BACK- 
WARD  TURN. 


loop:     some  ridges   i.\  this  pattern   >take 
a  backward  turn,  but  without  twist. 


The  Story  in  a  Finger  Print 


Our  Fingers. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts 
about  our  fingers  is  that  every  member 
of  the  human  race,  irrespective  of  age 
or  sex,  carries  in  person  certain  deli- 
cate markings  by  which  identity  can 
be  readily  established.  If  the  inner 
surface  of  the  hand  be  examined,  a 
number  of  very  fine  ridges  will  be  seen 
running  in  definite  directions,  and  ar- 
ranged in  patterns,  there  being  four 
primary  types — arches,  loops,  w^horls, 
and  composites.  It  has  been  demon- 
strated that  these  patterns  persist  in 
all  their  details  throughout  the  whole 
period  of  human  life.  The  impres- 
sions of  the  finger^  of  a  new-born  in- 
fant are  distinctly  traceable  on  the 
fingers  of  the  same  person  in  old  age. 
The  fact  that  these  patterns  on  the 
bulbs  of  the  fingers  are  characteristic 
of  and  differentiate  one  individual 
from  another,  makes  it  an  ideal  means 
of  fixing  identity.   Even  men  who  look 


so  much  alike  that  it  is  virtually  im- 
possible to  tell  one  from  the  other  so 
far  as  facial  characteristics  are  con- 
cerned, can  be  identified  by  their  linger 
impressions. 

Innumerable  illustrations  can  be 
given  of  how  the  perpetrators  of 
crime  have  been  identified  and  con- 
victed by  their  finger  prints.  Impres- 
sions left  by  criminals  on  such  ar- 
ticles as  plated  goods,  window  panes, 
drinking  glasses,  painted  wood,  bot- 
tles, cash  boxes,  candles,  etc.,  have 
often  successfully  supplied  the  clue 
which  has  led  to  the  apprehension  of 
the  thief  or  thieves.  One  of  our  illus- 
trations is  that  of  a  champagne  bottle 
which  was  found  empty  on  the  dining- 
room  table  of  a  house  w^hich  had  been 
entered  by  a  burglar  in  Birmingham, 
England.  There  was  a  distinct  im- 
pression of  a  thumb  mark  on  the  bot- 
tle. An  officer  of  the  Birmingham  City 
Police  took  the  bottle  to  New  Scotland 


Engravings  and  story  by  the  courtesy  of  Scientific  American. 


FINGER  PRINTS   OF   DIFFERENT   PEOPLE  ARE   DIFFERENT    521 


WHORL  :     RIDGES    HERE   MAKE  A   TXIRN   THROUGH 
AT   LEAST   ONE   COMPLETE   CIRCUIT. 


COMPOSITE  :  INCLUDES  PATTERNS  IN  WHICH 
TWO  OR  MORE  OF  THE  OTHER  TYPES  ARE 
COMBINED. 


Yard,  London,  and  within  a  few  min- 
utes a  duplicate  print  was  found  in  the 
records.  The  burglar  was  arrested  the 
same  evening. 

Alany  similar  instances  could  be 
given  of  how  thieves  have  been  caught 
by  handling  bottles  and  glasses.  On 
one  occasion  a  burglar  entered  a  house 
in  the  West  End  of  London,  and  be- 
fore leaving  helped  himself  to  a  glass 
of  wine.  On  the  tumbler  used  he  left 
two  finger  imprints,  and  these  were 
subsequently  found,  upon  search  in 
the  records  at  New  Scotland  Yard,  to 
be  identical  with  two  impressions  of  a 
notorious  criminal,  who  was  in  due 
course  arrested  and  sentenced  to  four 
years'  imprisonment. 

A  somewhat  gruesome  relic  is  a 
cash-box  which  bears  the  blurred 
thumb  mark  of  a  man  who  was  con- 
victed of  murder.  The  box  was  found 
in  the  bedroom  of  a  man  and  his  wife 
who  were  murdered  at  Deptford,  Lon- 
don, in  1905.  The  cash-box  was 
taken  to  New  Scotland  Yard,  and  the 
imj)ression  photographed  and  en- 
larged. Two  brothers,  suspected  of 
the    crime,    were    arrested,    and     the 


thumb  print  of  one  was  found  to  be 
identical  with  that  on  the  lid  of  the 
box.  Our  photograph  of  a  gate  re- 
calls a  curious  case  that  recently  oc- 
cupied the  attention  of  a  London 
magistrate.  In  this  instance  a  thief 
successfully  climbed  the  gate,  ^\dlich 
was  ten  feet  high.  In  his  attempt  to 
reach  the  ground  on  the  inner  side  he 
placed  his  feet  on  the  center  cross- 
bar, at  the  same  time  holding  the 
spikes  with  his  right  hand.  In  this  po- 
sition he  fell,  and  the  ring  he  wore  on 
his  little  finger  caught  on  the  spike  in- 
dicated by  the  arrowhead.  This  caused 
him  to  remain  suspended  in  the  air 
until  his  weight  tore  the  finger  from 
his  hand.  The  ring  with  the  finger 
was  found  on  the  spike,  and  in  due 
course  was  received  at  New  Scotland 
Yard.  An  impression  was  taken  of 
the  finger,  and  search  among  the  rec- 
ords revealed  a  duplicate  ])rint,  which 
led  to  the  man's  arrest. 

If  a  criminal  handles  a  piece  of 
candle  or  removes  a  pane  of  glass  and 
leaves  these  behind,  it  is  a  hundred  to 
one  he  has  left  a  valuable  clue  for  the 
police.  The  candle  shown  on  the  follow- 


'■^^ 


*5n^n 


PALMARY  IMPRESSIONS  OF  WHOLE  HAND, 
SHOWING  HOW  IT  IS  COVERED  WITH  RIDGES 
AND   PATTERNS. 


FINGER  IMPRESSIONS  OF  AN  ORANG-OUTANG 
(anthropoid  ape)  taken  AT  THE  LONDON 
ZOO.      THEY    WERE   MADE   BY    SCOTLAND   YARD. 


ing  page  bears  the  imprint  of  a  man's 
thumb,  and  was  found  in  a  house  which 
a  burglar  had  entered.  By  handling  the 
candle,  the  thief  virtually  signed  the 
warrant  for  his  own  arrest. 

The  system  was  first  used  by  the 
police  in  the  Province  of  Bengal, 
India,  at  the  instigation  of  Sir  William 
Herschel.  Its  value  was  at  once  ap- 
parent. The  work  of  the  courts  was 
considerably  lightened,  as  the  natives 
recognized  that  a  system  of  identifica- 
tion had  been  discovered  which  was 
indisputable.  Then  from  the  police  it 
was  introduced  into  various  branches 
of  the  public  service,  and  here  again  its 
value  was  quickly  demonstrated.  When 
native  pensioners  died,  for  instance, 
friends  and  relatives  personated  them, 
and  so  continued  to  draw  their  allow- 
ances. By  recording  the  identity  of 
pensioners  by  finger  prints,  this  evil 
was  quickly  stamped   out. 

The    wonderful    lineations,     in    the 


form  of  ridges  and  patterns,  which 
adorn  the  palmar  surface  of  the  hu- 
man hand,  had,  of  course,  been  known 
for  many  years.  Mr.  Francis  Galton, 
the  famous  traveler  and  scientist,  was 
])erhaps  the  first  to  give  serious  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  of  finger  prints.  He 
discovered  many  interesting  facts  about 
them.  Then,  in  1823,  Prof.  Purkinje, 
of  Breslau,  read  a  paper  before  the 
University  of  Breslau  on  the  subject. 
Up  to  this  date,  however,  no  practical 
use  could  be  made  of  the  impressions 
for  the  want  of  a  system  of  classifica- 
tion. Prof.  Purkinje  certainly  sug- 
gested one,  but  little  notice  appears  to 
have  been  taken  of  it. 

Naturally,  to  be  of  any  value  to  the 
police  or  to  any  government  depart- 
ment, it  is  absolutely  essential  to 
classify  the  prints  in  such  a  w-ay  that 
they  could  be  readily  referred  to  and 
identity  established  without  undue  de- 
lay.    It  was  virtually  left  to  Sir  Wil- 


HOW  THIEVES  HAVE  BEEN  CAUGHT  THROUGH  FINGER  PRINTS    523 


A     CHAMPAGNE     BOTTLE     HAVING     THUMB     IM- 
PRINT,   WHICH    LED   TO   ARREST   OF    A   BURGLAR. 


CANDLE    BEARING    THUMB    MARK    OF    A    BURGLAR. 


CASH-BOX  IN  BEDROOM  OF  MURDERED  MAN  AND 
WIFE.  THE  THUMB  IMPRESSION  (POINTED 
AT  BY  arrow)  led  TO  ARREST  OF  THE  MUR- 
DERER. 


liam  Herschel,  of  the  Indian  Civil 
Service,  to  invent  a  really  practical 
system  of  classification,  so  it  may  be 
claimed  that  the  finger-print  method 
of  identification,  as  at  present  adojjted, 
is  the  discovery  of  an  Kngh'shman. 
1'hcn  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that  Sir 
I'xlward  R.  Henry,  the  Commissioner 
of  the  Metropolitan  Police  of  T.ondr)n, 


has  also  devoted  much  time  and  study 
to  the  subject.  His  book,  "Classifica- 
tion and  Uses  of  Finger  Prints,"  has 
passed  through  many  editions,  and  has 
been  translated  into  several  foreign 
languages. 

Impressions  are  divided  up  into 
four  distinct  types  or  patterns.  First, 
we  have  arches  in  which  the  ridges  run 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  making  no 
backward  turn.  In  loops,  however, 
some  of  the  ridges  do  make  a  back- 
ward turn,  but  are  devoid  of  twists. 
In  whorls  some  of  the  ridges  make  a 
turn  through  at  least  one  complete  cir- 
cuit. Under  composites  are  included 
patterns  in  which  two  or  more  of  the 
former  types  are  combined  in  the  same 
imprint.  Although  similarity  in  type 
is  of  frequent  occurrence,  completely 
coincident  ridge  characteristics  have 
never  been  found  in  any  two  impres- 
sions. It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enter 
into  a  detailed  account  as  to  how  the 
classification  of  these  wonderful  linea- 
tions  of  the  human  hand  is  efifected. 
It  is  based  on  a  number  value,  at- 
tained by  an  examination,  by  means 
of  a  magnifying  glass,  of  the  "deltas" 
and  "cores,"  which  break  up  a  collec- 
tion into  as  many  as  1024  separate 
primary  groups,  each  of  which  can 
again,  by  a  system  of  sub-classifica- 
tion, be  further  split  up  into  quite  a 
number  of  sub-groups.  When  the 
British  police  discover  finger  prints  on 
articles  at  the  scene  of  crime,  the  latter 
are  at  once  conveyed  to  New  Scotland 
Yard.  If  the  impressions  are  very 
faint,  a  little  powder,  known  to  chem- 
ists as  "grey  powder"  (mercury  and 
chalk),  is  sprinkled  over  the  marking 
and  then  gently  brushed  ofif  with  a 
camel-hair  brush.  This  brings  out  the 
imprint  much  more  clearly.  If  one 
places  his  dry  thumb  upon  a  piece  of 
white  paper  no  visible  impression  is 
left.  If  powder,  however,  is  sprinkled 
over  the  spot  and  then  brushed  off,  a 
distinct  impression  is  seen.  In  the  case 
of  candles  and  articles  of  this  nature, 
a  drop  of  printer's  ink  is  lightly 
smeared  over  ati  im])rcssion,  in  or(k"r 
the  more  clearly  to  define  the  ridges 
and   patterns. 


A   SPIKE  THAT   CAUGHT  A  CRIMINAL 


ox  THE  SPIKE  OF  THE  GATE  (INDICATED  BY  AN 
arrow)  a  criminal  LEFT  HIS  FINGER  AND 
RING,  WHICH  LED  TO  HIS  CONVICTION. 


At  the  headquarters  of  the  British 
poHce  at  New  Scotland  Yard  they 
possess  special  cameras  and  a  dark 
room  for  photographing  these  thumb 
marks.  The  dark  room  is  21  feet  long 
and  7  feet  wide.  When  finger  prints 
are  required  for  production  in  court 
they  are  first  enlarged  five  diameters 
with  an  enlarging  camera.  The  nega- 
tives are  afterward  placed  in  an  elec- 
tric light  enlarging  lantern,  with  which 
it    is    possible   to   obtain    photographic 


enlargements  of  a  thumb  mark  36 
inches  square.  The  lantern  is  arranged 
on  a  specially  made  table  12  feet  long, 
the  lantern  running  between  tram 
lines,  so  that  when  moved  it  is  square 
with  the  easel. 

Criminals  have  naturally  come  to  dread 
the  value  of  their  thumb  marks  as  a 
means  of  identifying  their  movements. 
Some  will  try  to  obliterate  the  mark- 
ings by  pricking  their  fingers,  but  so 
far  this  has  not  availed  them.  To  suc- 
cessfully accomplish  this  it  would  be 
necessary  to  obliterate  the  whole  of 
the  palmary  impressions  on  the  tip  of 
each  finger  of  each  hand. 

Then  the  system,  too,  is  far  in  ad- 
vance of  any  other,  both  in  reliability 
and  simplicity  of  working.  Compared 
to  anthropometry,  for  instance,  in- 
vented by  M.  Bertillon,  in  which  meas- 
urements of  certain  portions  of  the 
body  are  relied  upon  as  a  medium  of 
identification,  the  finger-print  system 
is  certainly  preferable.  In  the  first 
place,  the  instruments  are  costly  and 
are  liable  to  get  out  of  order ;  while 
the  measurements  can  only  be  taken  by 
a  fairly  educated  person,  and  then  only 
after  a  special  course  of  instruction. 
In  the  finger-print  system  the  acces- 
sories needed  are  a  piece  of  paper  and 
ink,  while  any  person,  whether  edu- 
cated or  not,  after  half  an  hour's  prac- 
tice, can  take  legible  finger  prints. 
Then  the  classification  of  the  latter  is 
much  simpler  and  readier  of  access 
than  the  former. 

At  the  time  of  writing  there  are 
some  164,000  finger-print  records  in 
the  pigeon-holes  at  New  Scotland 
Yard,  and  the  number  now  being 
added  to  it  is  at  the  rate  of  about  250 
weekly.  The  system,  too,  is  not  only 
in  use  in  Great  Britain,  but  in  all  the 
provinces  of  India,  including  Burma, 
and  in  most  of  the  British  colonies  and 
dependencies.  It  is  being  rapidly  ex- 
tended, not  only  throughout  Europe, 
but  also  through  North  and  South 
America. 


RECORDS  OF  FINGER  PRINTS  ARE  KEPT  AT  HEADQUARTERS      525 


SPECIMEN   FORM. 


TU\<  Fnrm  i?  not  to  Im?  innn<d. 


MALE, 


H.C.R.  No. 

I 

Name 


Aliases 


Classification  No. 


28.    MM. 
^2.    11. 


RIGHT    HAND. 


].— RipUt  Thumb. 


(■       .^Ju    ■'''^^^^ 


m 


■2.—U.  Fore  Fin-'or. 


«i-,<>^^^^^ 


0^h<^i:^i$ 


I,  1 


i.—K.  Riiif:  Finycr 


-K.  Little  Fin-cr. 


mil 


m 


(Fold.) 


(Fold.) 


Impre.~=ic.ns  tr>  be  so  taken  thit  the  fJesiire  of  the  last  joint  shall  bo  imQiediately  above  th-;  black  lino  mrirke^^l  (Fold).  If  the  ini])re--inn  •<'  any 
digit  be  defertivc  a  second  print  may  be  taken  in  the  vacant  space  above  it. 

When  a  finger  is  mis.«ing  or  so  injured  that  the  impression  cannot  be  obtained,  or  is  deformed  and  yields  a  b.ad  print,  the  fact  slmuld  1)  •  noted 
under  7?r/i:. //••'..-. 

LEFT    HAND. 


il. — L.  Thumb. 


7.  — L.  Fore  Finger, 


;.^ 


-L.  Middle  FiD" 


-L.  Rin-   ['.n. 


Ji'.— L,  i.irfle  Finger. 


m 


»■: 


m.. 


Sm. 


i^ 


f 


^m 


(Fold.) 


(Fold.) 


LEFT    HAND. 

lidn  impressions  of  the  four  fingers  taken  simultaneously. 


RIGHT    HAND. 

Plain  impressions  of  the  ii.ur  fin^'ers  taken  simultaneausly. 


f^k 


Jinjiiti'lont  luhen  I'j 


I'vUcc  ) 
Farcf.  S 


Claitijl^il  III  JI.C.  lUiji^lrii  hi) 
Teiifd  al  JI.C.  lUglHrij  bi/ 


kWJ36 


ilfniiiii  a  r  .jitiiMfa^ifcM^yfc^^iiiiiiiaiy, 


526 


WHERE   HONEY   COMES   FROM 


COMBS  OF  HONEY  AS  WE  RECEIVE  SAME 


The  Story  in  a  Honey  Bee- 


Of  all  the  insect  associations  there  are 
none  that  have  more  excited  the  ad- 
miration of  men  of  every  age  or  that 
have  been  more  universally  interesting 
than  the  colonies  of  the  common  honey- 
bee. 

The  ancients  held  many  absurd 
views  concerning  the  generation  and 
propagation  of  bees,  believing  that 
they  arose  from  decaying  animals, 
from  the  flowers  of  certain  plants,  and 
other  views  equally  ridiculous  from 
our  present  point  of  view. 

Where  Does  Honey  Come  From? 

Honey  is  a  sticky  fluid  collected  from 
flowers  by  several  kinds  of  insects, 
particularly  the  honey  bee;  and  the 
common  honey  bee  from  the  earliest 
period  has  been  kept  by  people  in 
hives  for  the  advantage  and  enjoyment 
which  its  honey  and  wax  gives.  It 
is  fotmd  vnld  in  North  America  in  great 


numbers,  storing  its  honey  in  hollow 
trees  and  other  suitable  locations, 
but  not  native  to  this  country,  having 
been  introduced  in  North  America  by 
European  colonists. 

The  story  of  the  honey  bee  is  one  of 
the  most  interesting  of  all  stories  of  the 
living  things  found  on  the  earth.  The 
busy  bee  is  the  ideal  example  of  hard 
and  persistent  work  and  has  for  a  long 
time  been  the  subject  of  interesting 
study  for  young  and  old.  The  bee 
is  one  of  the  busiest  of  all  of  the  world's 
workers,  and  it  is  from  the  honey  bee 
that  we  get  our  expression  "  as  busy  as 
a  bee";  such  other  expressions  as  "to 
have  a  bee  in  one's  bonnet";  also  such 
others  as  "  quilting  bees  "  and  "  husk- 
ing bees  "  are  founded  on  the  known 
activities  of  the  honey  bee.  The  first 
expression  means  "to  be  flighty  or  full 
of  whims  or  uneasy  motions  "  which 
comes  from  the  restless  habits  of  bees, 
and  "  quilting  bee  "  or  "  husking  bee  " 


Pictiires  by  Courtesy  of  E.  R.  Root  Co. 


HOW   A   BEE   MAKES    HONEY 


527 


WORKER-BEE. 


QJEEN-BEE,  MAGNIFIED. 


DRONE-BEE. 


originated  from  the  knowledge  that 
bees  work  together  for  the  queen.  In 
a  quilting  bee  or  husking  bee  a  number 
of  people  get  together  and  work  to- 
gether for  a  time  for  the  benefit  of 
one  individual. 

Honey  Is  Produced  by  Bees  which  Live 
in  Colonies. 

A  colony  of  bees  consists  of  one 
female,  capable  of  laying  eggs,  called 
the  queen;  some  thousands  of  un- 
developed females  that  nonnally  never 


lay  eggs,  the  workers;  and,  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  many  males,  the 
drones,  whose  only  duty  is  to  mate 
with  the  young  queens.  These  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  individuals  can  readily 
be  recognized  by  the  difference  in  size 
of  various  parts  of  the  body,  so  that 
even  the  novice  at  bee-keeping  can 
soon  recognize  each  with  ease.  This 
colony  makes  its  home  in  nature  in  a 
hollow  tree  or  cave;  but  it  thrives  per- 
haps even  better  in  the  hives  provided 
for  it  by  man.    In  a  modern  hive,  sheets 


Bbfc.3  LiVl.NO  US  CUMUS  UUILT  IN  THE  Ol'EN  AlK. 


528 


WHAT  THE   QUEEN   BEE    DOES 


of  comb  arc  placed  in  wooden  frames 
which  are  hung  in  the  hive-box  in  such 
a  wav  that  they  can  be  removed  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  bee-keeper.  A  sheet  of 
comb  is  made  up  of  small  cells  in  which 
honey  is  stored  by  the  bees,  and  in 
which  eggs  are  laid,  and  young  bees 
develop. 

How    Does    a   Bee    Make    Honey    from 

Flower  Nectar? 

In  the  s]mng  of  the  year  the  colony 
consists  of  a  queen  and  workers,  there 
being  no  drones  present  at  this  time. 


CCCUMBER-BLOSSOM  WITH  A  BEE  ON  IT; 
CAUGHT  IN  THE  ACT. 

During  the  winter  the  bees  remain 
quiet,  and  the  queen  lays  no  eggs,  so 
that  there  are  no  developing  bees  in  the 
hive.  The  supply  of  honey  is  also 
low,  for  they  have  eaten  honey  all 
winter,  and  none  has  been  collected  and 
placed  in  the  cells.  As  soon  as  the 
days  are  wami  enough  the  bees  begin 
to  fly  from  the  hive  in  search  of  the 
earliest  spring  flowers.  From  these 
flowers  they  collect  the  nectar,  which  is 
transformed  into  honey,  and  pollen, 
which  they  carry  to  the  hive  on  the 
pollen-baskets  on  the  third  pair  of  legs. 
The  nectar  is  taken  by  the  bee  into 
its  mouth,  and  then  passes  to  an  en- 
largement of  the  alimentary  canal 
known  as  the  honey-stomach,  where  it 
is  acted  upon  by  certain  juices  secreted 
by  the  bee.  The  true  stomach  lies 
just  behind  the  honey-stomach;  and 
if  the  bee  needs  food  for  its  own  imme- 


diate use  it  passes  on  through  the  oj^cn- 
ing  between  the  two  stomachs.  On 
its  arrival  in  the  hive  the  bee  places  its 
head  in  one  of  the  cells  of  the  comb  and 
deposits  there  the  nectar  which  it  has 
carried  in.  By  this  time  the  nectar 
has  been  partly  transformed  into  honey, 
and  the  process  is  completed  by  the 
bees  by  fanning  the  cells  to  evaporate 
the  excess  of  moisture  which  still  re- 
mains. When  a  cell  has  been  filled  with 
the  thick  honey  the  workers  cover  it 
with  a  thin  sheet  of  wax  unless  it  is  to 
be  eaten  at  once.  The  pollen  is  also 
deposited  in  cells,  but  is  rarely  mixed 
with  honey.  The  little  pellets  which 
the  bees  carry  in  are  packed  tightly 
into  cells  until  the  cell  is  nearly  full. 
If  a  cell  of  pollen  be  dug  out  of  the 
comb,  one  can  often  see  the  layers 
made  by  the  different  ■  pellets.  This 
collecting  of  nectar  and  pollen  con- 
tinues throughout  the  summer  when- 
ever there  are  flowers  in  bloom,  and 
ceases  only  with  the  death  of  the  last 
flowers  in  the  autumn. 


What  Does  the  Queen  Bee  Do? 

Almost  as  soon  as  the  honey  and  pol- 
len begin  to  come  in,  the  queen  of  the 
colony  begins  to  lay  eggs  in  the  cells 
of  the  center  combs.  The  title  of 
queen  has  been  given  to  the  female  bee 
which  normally  lays  all  the  eggs  of  the 
colony,  under  the  supposition  that  she 
governs  the  colony  and  directs  its 
activities.  This  we  now  know  to  be 
an  error,  but  the  name  still  remains. 
Pier  one  duty  in  life  is  that  of  egg-lay- 
ing. She  is  most  carefully  watched 
over  by  the  workers,  and  is  constantly 
surrounded  by  a  circle  of  attendants 
who  feed  her  and  touch  her  with  their 
antennae;  but  she  in  no  way  dictates 
what  shall  take  place  in  the  hive.  The 
eggs  are  laid  in  the  bottom  of  the  hexa- 
gonal cells,  being  attached  by  one  end 
to  the  center  of  the  cell.  The  first  eggs 
laid  develop  into  workers,  and  are 
deposited  in  cells  one-fifth  of  an  inch 
across.  As  the  colony  increases  in 
size  by  the  hatching-out  of  these 
workers,  and  as  the  stores  of  honey 
and  pollen  increase,  the  queen  begins 
to  lay  in  larger  cells  measuring  one- 


HOW  THE  EGG  OF  THE  QUEEN   BEE   LOOKS 


529 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  COMB  HONEY 

i 


fourth  of  an  inch,  and  from  the  eggs 
laid  in  these  cells  drones  (or  males) 
develop. 

The  eggs  do  not  develop  directly 
into  adult  bees,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  what  has  just  been  said;  but 
after  three  days  there  hatches  from  the 
egg  a  small  white  worm-like  larva. 
For  several  days  the  larvae  are  fed  by 
the  workers,  and  the  amount  of  food 
consumed  is  truly  remarkable.  The 
larva  grows  rapidly  until  it  fills  the 
entire  cell  in  which  it  lives.  The 
workers  then  cover  the  cell  with  a  cap 
of  wax,  and  at  the  same  time  the  larva 
inside  spins  a  delicate  cocoon  under  the 
cap. 


fJSl 

THE  QUEEN  AND  HER  RETINUE. 


EGG  OF  QUEEN    UM)I:K    TIII:   MICROSCOPE. 


530 


HOW  HONEY   DEVELOPS   IN   A   COMB 


WHAT  DRONES  ARE  GOOD  FOR 


531 


What  Are  Drone  Bees  Good  for? 

The  worker  brood  can  at  once  be 
distinguished  from  the  drone  brood 
by  the  fact  that  the  workers  place  a 
flat  cap  over  worker  brood  and  a  high 
arched  cap  over  drone  brood;  and  this 
is  often  a  great  help  to  the  bee-keeper 
in  enabling  him  to  determine  at  once 
what  kind  of  brood  any  hive  contains. 
Twenty-one  days  from  the  time  the  egg 
is  laid  the  young  worker-bee  emerges 
from  its  cell,  having  gone  through  some 
wonderful   transformations   during   the 


time  it  was  sealed  up,  this  stage  being 
known  as  the  pupa  stage.  For  drones 
the  time  is  twenty-four  days. 

About  the  time  the  drones  begin 
to  appear,  the  inmates  of  the  hive  begin 
to  prepare  for  swarming,  which,  to  any 
one  watching  the  habits  of  bees,  is  one 
of  the  most  interesting  things  which 
takes  place  in  the  colony.  Several 
young  worker  larvee  are  chosen  as  the 
material  for  queen-rearing,  generally 
located  near  the  margin  of  the  comb. 
The  workers  now  begin  to  feed  these 


MOW  A   bWAKM   WILL   SOMKTLMLb  OCCLI'Y   A   b.MALL    IKLL  ANU   IJLNU   11    U\  LU    HV    US 

WEIGHT. 


532 


HOW  THE    HONE\    COiWB    IS    MADE 


chosen  larv?c  an  extra  amount  of  food 
and  at  the  same  time  the  sides  of  the 
cells  containing  them  are  remodeled 
and  enlarged  by  the  destruction  of 
surrounding  cells.  The  queen  (or 
royal)  cell  is  nearly  horizontal  at  the 


3        4569        12      15 
THE  DAILY  CROWTH  OK  LARV^. 


placed  vertically  on  the  comb,  about 
as  large  as  three  ordinary  cells.  As 
the  cell  is  being  built,  the  queen  larva 
continues  to  grow  until  the  time  comes 
for  her  to  be  sealed  up  and  enter  her 
pupa  state.  Although  it  takes  the 
worker  twenty-one  days  to  complete  its 


DRONE-COMB. 


WORKER-COMB. 


top,  like  the  other  cells  of  the  comb, 
and  projects  beyond  them;  but  then 
the  workers  construct  another  portion 
to  the  cell  into  which  the  queen  larva 
moves.     This  is  an  acom-shaDcd  cell 


development,  the  queen  passes  through 
all  the  stages  and  reaches  a  considerably 
larger  size  in  but  sixteen  days. 

In   the   swarming   season,    at   about 
the  time  the  new  queens  are  ready  to 


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A  STUDY  IN  CELL-MAKING. 


Note  that  the  cells  are  made  independent  of  each  other,  and  that  it  is  the  refuse  wax,  like  drop- 
pings of  mortar  in  brick-laying,  that  seems  to  tumble  into  the  interstices  to  fill  up. 


CLIPPING  THE  QUEEN  BEE'S  WINGS 


533 


HOW  TO  BUMP  THE  BEES  OFF  A  COMB. 


MANNER  OF  USING  GERMAN  BEE-BRUSH 


M.  G.  Dcrvishian's  method  of  catching 
queens,  for  caging  or  clipping  their  wings,  by 
means  of  a  jeweler's  tweezers. 


THE  PROOF  OF  THE  PUDDING  IS  IN 
THE  EATING." 


534 


WHAT  AN  APIARY  LOOKS  LIKE 


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HOW  THE  HONEY  MAN   HANDLES   THE   BEES 


535 


HlWtVJ.,.^Pl'.l.' MJ-»W 


A  SWARM  ENTERING  A  HIVE. 


A  LIVE  BEE-HAT. 


A   FRAME  OF   UEES,   bHOWT.NC,   (J.NE   WAY   OF   HOLUINO  AN  UNSPACED  FRAME. 


536 


HOW  THE   HONEY   BEE   DEFENDS   HIMSELF 


leave  their  cells,  the  old  queen  leaves 
the  hive  and  takes  with  her  part  of  the 
workers,  this  being  known  as  swarm- 
ing. 

How  Do  Bees  Build  the  Honey  Comb? 

In  the  hands  of  a  bec-kcepcr  the 
departing  swarm  will  be  put  into  an- 
other hive  provided  he  wishes  to  in- 
crease the  number  of  his  colonies; 
but  in  a  state  of  nature  the  swarni  will 
find  an  old  hollow  tree  or  some  similar 
place  in  which  to  establish  itself.  The 
bees,  before  leaving  their  old  hive,  fill 
themselves  with  honey  vmtil  the  abdo- 
men is  greatly  distended,  and  for  this 
reason  it  is  not  necessary  for  them  to 
collect  nectar  for  a  day  or  two,  for  they 
have  other  work  to  do.  Some  of  the 
bees  begin  to  clean  out  the  new  quar- 
ters and  get  it  fit  for  occupancy;  but 
most  of  them  begin  the  construction 
of  new^  combs.  To  do  this  they  sus- 
pend themselves  in  curtains  from  the 
top  of  the  hive,  and  remain  motionless 
for  some  time.  The  wax  used  in  build- 
ing comb  is  secreted  by  the  workers  in 
eight  small  pockets  on  the  lower  side 
of  the  abdomen  while  they  thus  hang 
in  curtains.  Finally,  after  enough  wax 
has  been  formed,  they  begin  to  build. 
The  small  flakes  of  wax  are  passed 
forward  to  the  mouth,  there  mixed  with 
a  salivary  secretion  to  make  the  wax 
pliable,  and  then  are  placed  on  the  top 
of  the  hive  by  the  first  comb-builders. 
Other  workers  then  come  and  place 
their  small  burdens  of  w^ax  on  those 
first  deposited,  and  this  continues  until 
the  combs  are  finished.  There  is  more 
to  comb-building  than  the  mere  stick- 
ing on  of  wax  plates,  however,  and 
nothing  in  all  bee  instincts  is  more  won- 
derful than  the  beautiful  plan  on  which 
thiey  build  the  comb.  The  cells  are 
hexagonal  in  shape,  so  that  each  cell 
in  the  center  of  the  comb  is  surrounded 
by  six  others.  Nor  is  this  the  only 
remarkable  thing  in  their  architecture, 
for  each  comb  is  composed  of  a  double 
row  of  cells,  the  base  of  each  cell  being 
formed  of  three  parts,  each  one  of  which 
is  likewise  a  part  of  a  separate  cell 
of  the  other  side  of  the  comb.  By  this 
method  the  bees  obtain  the  greatest 
possible  capacity  for  their  cells,  with 


the  least  expenditure  of  wax.  The 
accuracy  of  the  cells  of  the  comb  has 
in  all  ages  been  an  object  of  admira- 
tion of  naturalists  and  bee-keep- 
ers. 

As  soon  as  their  are  some  cells  con- 
structed, and  even  before  the  cells  are 
entirely  completed,  the  queen  begins 
to  lay  eggs,  and  the  workers  begin  to 
collect  the  stores  of  honey  and  jiollen. 
They  also  collect  in  considerable  quan- 
tity a  waxy  substance  from  various 
trees,  commonly  called  pro])olis,  with 
which  they  seal  the  inside  of  the  hive, 
closing  up  all  oi^cnings  except  the  one 
which  serves  as  the  entrance. 

The  cells  which  are  used  for  the  stor- 
age of  honey  generally  slant  upward 
slightly  to  help  keep  the  honey  from 
running  out.  Queen-cells  are  made 
only  when  a  new  queen  is  to  be 
reared. 


EFFECT  OF  A  STING  NEAR  THE  EYE. 

Can  a  Bee  Sting? 

It  is  true  that  bees  cannot  bite  and 
kick  like  horses,  nor  can  they  hook 
like  cattle;  but  most  people,  after  hav- 
ing had  an  experience  with  bee-stings 
for  the  first  time,  are  inclined  to  think 
they  would  rather  be  bitten,  kicked, 
and  hooked,  all  together,  than  risk 
a  repetition  of  that  keen  and  exquisite 
anguish  which  one  feels  as  he  receives 
the  full  contents  of  the  poison-bag. 


WHAT  HAPPENS  WHEN  A   BEE   STINGS   YOU 


537 


What  Happens  When  a  Bee  Stings? 

After  the  bee  has  penetrated  the 
flesh  on  your  hand,  and  worked  the 
sting  so  deeply  into  the  flesh  as  to  be 
satisfied,  it  begins  to  find  that  it  is  a 
prisoner,  and  to  consider  means  of 
escape.  It  usually  gets  smashed  at 
about  this  stage  of  proceedings,  unless 
it  succeeds  in  tearing  the  sting — poison- 
bag  and  all — from  the  body;  however, 
if  allowed  to  do  the  work  quietly  it 
seldom  does  this,  knowing  that  such  a 
proceeding  seriously  maims  it  for  life, 
if  it  does  not  kill  it.  After  pulling  at 
the  sting  to  see  that  it  will  not  come 
out,  it  seems  to  consider  the  matter  a 
little,  and  then  commences  to  walk 
around  it,  in  a  circle,  just  as  if  it  were 
a  screw  it  was  going  to  turn  out  of  a 
board.  If  you  will  be  patient  and  let 
it  alone,  it  will  get  it  out  by  this  very 
process,  and  fly  off  unharmed.  I  need 
not  tell  you  that  it  takes  some  heroism 
to  submit  patiently  to  all  this  maneu- 
vering. The  temptation  is  almost  im- 
govemable,  while  experiencing  the  in- 
tense pain,  to  say,  while  you  give  it  a 
clip,  "  There,  you  little  beggar,  take 
that,  and  learn  better  manners  in 
future." 

Well,  how  does  every  bee  know  that 
it  can  extricate  its  sting  by  walking 
around  it?  Some  would  say  it  is  in- 
stinct. Well,  I  guess  it  is;  but  it 
seems  to  me,  after  all,  that  it  "  sort  o' 
remembers  "  how  its  ancestors  have 
behaved  in  similar  predicaments  for 
ages  and  ages  past. 

Odor  of  the  Bee-sting  Poison. 

After  one  bee  has  stung  you,  if  you 
remain  where  you  were  stung,  the 
smell  of  the  poison,  or  something  else, 
will  be  pretty  sure  to  get  more  stings 
for  you,  unless  you  are  very  careful. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  this  is  owing 
to  the  smell  of  the  poison,  and  that 
the  use  of  smoke  will  neutralize  this 
scent.     This  probably  is  so. 

What  Should  I  Do  If  I  Am  Stung  by 
a  Bee? 

The  blade  of  a  knife,  if  one  is  handy, 
may  be  slid  under  the  poison-bag,  and 
the  sting  lifted  out,  without  pressing 
a  particle  more  of  the  i)fMsr)n  intrj  llu- 


wound.  When  a  knife-blade  is  not 
handy,  push  the  sting  out  with  the 
thiunb  or  finger  nail  in  much  the  same 
way.  It  is  quite  desirable  that  the 
sting  should  be  taken  out  as  quickly 
as  possible,  for  if  the  barbs  once  get  a 
hold  in  the  flesh,  the  muscular  con- 
tractions will  rapidly  work  the  sting 
deeper  and  deeper.  Sometimes  the 
sting  separates,  and  a  part  of  it  (one 
of  the  splinters,  so  to  speak)  is  left  in 
the  wound;  it  has  been  suggested  that 
we  should  be  very  careful  to  remove 
every  one  of  these  tiny  points ;  but  after 
trying  many  times  to  see  what  the 
effect  would  be,  I  have  concluded  that 
they  do  but  little  harm,  and  that  the 
main  thing  is,  to  remove  the  part  con- 
taining the  poison-bag  before  it  has 
emptied  itself  completely  into  the 
wound. 

Why  Are  Some  Races  White,  and  Others 
Black,  Yellow  and  Brown  ? 

What  you  eat  determines  your  color, 
according  to  Bergfield,  a  German  in- 
vestigator. Not  necessarily  that  you 
yourself  could  effect  any  change  in 
color,  but  your  ancestors  for  thou- 
sands of  years  have  unconsciously  been 
influenced  by  the  food  they  have  eaten 
and  the  drinks  they  have  drunk. 

For  instance,  the  original  men  were 
black,  says  Bergfield.  Their  chief  diet 
was  of  vegetables  and  fruits,  he  ex- 
plains, and  these  same  food  contains 
manganates  that  are  not  unlike  iron. 
Dark  browns  and  blacks  result  from 
this  combination.  It  is  a  scientific 
fact  that  negroes  who  drink  milk  and 
eat  meat  are  never  as  dark  as  those 
who  eat  vegetables. 

Again,  Mongols  are  yellow  because 
they  have  descended  from  races  that 
were  fruit-eating,  and  who,  making 
their  way  into  the  deepest  nooks  and 
widest  plains  of  Asia,  developed  into 
shepherds  and  lived  largely  i  on  milk. 
Of  course  it  is  now  knowTi  that  milk 
contains  a  certain  percentage  of 
chlorine,  and  has  a  decidedly  bleach- 
ing effect.  In  the  case  of  Caucasians, 
they  are  said  to  have  become  white 
by  adding  salt  to  their  foods,  which 
common  salt  is  a  strong  chloride,  and 
l)()Worful  ill  1)lcacliing  the  skin. 


538 


WHERE  LEATHER  COMES  FROM 


A   HIDE   HOUSE 


The  Story  in  a  Piece  of  Leather* 


Where  Does  Leather  Come  From  ? 

Leather  is  made  by  treating  the 
hides  of  various  animals  such  as  the 
calf,  cow  and  horse.  These  are  the 
principal  animals  from  which  we  obtain 
hides  for  making  leather  to  make  shoes. 
Before  the  hides  are  fit  for  making 
shoes,  they  must  be  taken  to  a  tannery 
where  they  are  prepared  and  tanned. 

In  viewing  a  tannery,  we  enter  first 
the  enormous  hide  house.  It  is  long, 
damp  and  dark.  Here  the  hides  are 
collected  from  all  over  the  world  and 
stored,  awaiting  their  turn  for  tanning. 
We  follow  a  small  car  of  these  hides 
into  the  beamhouse.  We  see  the 
hides  loaded  into  a  vat.  They  are 
soaked,  resoaked,  softened  and  split 
into  sides.  This  operation,  while  sim- 
ple, holds  your   attention    longer  per- 


haps than  any  of  the  others.  Several 
hides  after  being  softened  are  thrown 
over  a  sort  of  saw-horse,  the  lot  number 
is  stamped  on  the  hide  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  appears  on  each  side  after  being 
split.  With  an  unusually  long  bladed 
knife  the  workman  quickly  cuts  down 
through  the  center  and  the  hides  which 
are  now  called  sides,  fall  to  the  floor. 
They  are  next  hooked  together  and 
pass  on  through  vat  after  vat  of  lime 
solution  which  loosens  the  hair  and 
superfluous  flesh.  At  the  end  of  this 
long  chain  of  vats,  we  see  the  sides 
awaiting  their  turn  at  the  first  unhair- 
ing  machine,  where  all  the  hair  is 
removed  and  then  to  the  fleshing  ma- 
chine, where  the  flesh  is  taken  off  and 
the  sides  are  again  loaded  in  a  car  and 
pass  on  to  the  tanyard. 


Pictures  by  courtesy  of  Endicott,  Johnson  &  Co. 


HOW  THE  HIDES  ARE  TREATED 


539 


THE   TAN   YARD 


We  resume  our  travels,  following  a  car  of  sides  from  the  beamhouse  to  the  sole 
leather  tanyard.  There  are  about  40  operations  in  the  tanning  of  sole  leather, 
requiring  about  100  days  to  produce  first  quality  leather.  In  the  tanyard,  we  see 
more  than  500  vats,  each  holding  300  sides,  weighing  about  23  pounds  apiece. 
Each  vat  contains  about  3000  gallons  of  liquor  at  an  approximate  cost  of  $100 
a  vat.  Here  we  see  the  sides  slipped  over  sticks  and  placed  in  vats  six  feet  deep, 
where  they  receive  the  tanning,  the  real  tanning  process  which  preserves  the  fibers 
giving  the  leather  its  life  and  long  wearing  qualities. 

From  the  tanyard  we  go  to  the  big  wringers  where  the  liquor  is  wrung  out,  the 
hides  are  milled,  dried  and  loaded  on  cars  for  the  drying  loft,  where  they  arc  allowed 
to  dry  or  season  preparatory  to  rolling.  This  long  building  is  sectioned  off  every 
50  feet  into  chambers,  where  the  hides  are  hung  in  the  same  manner  as  in  the 

vats.  The  temperature  of  each  room  is 
changed  from  the  outside  temperature 
to  a  heat  of  115  degrees,  at  which  tem- 
perature the  hides  are  dried  and  are 
ready  for  rolling. 

In  the  rolling  room,  we  see  an  opera- 
tion requiring  skill  and  qtiickness  «f 
eye.  The  rollers  pass  to  and  fro  over 
tlic  side,  which  is  now  hard  and  stiff, 
with  a  pressure  of  300  tons.  This 
rolling  or  finishing  gives  it  a  high 
]xjlish  and  we  sec  a  beautiful  .side  of 
sole  leather,  weighing  from  18  to  25 
I)ounds. 


HH 

|y 

540 


HOW   UPPER   SHOE    LEATHER    IS  TANNED 


.' 

L 

WwSr^ 

In  the  upper  leather  tannery  we  see  the  various  operations  preparatory  to 
the  actual  operation  of  tanning  the  hide,  about  the  same  as  in  the  sole  leather 
tannery,  with  this  difference:  Upper  leather  in  this  tannery  is  generally  chrome 
tanned,  a  process  requiring  30  days  and  instead  of  vats  sunken  in  the  ground  we 
see  huge  rolling  drums  revolving  at  a  rapid  rate.  This  process  is  the  most  up-to- 
date  method  and  absolutely  insures  the  wearing  qualities  of  the  leather.  This 
leather  is  very  tough,  yet  is  just  as  soft  and  pliable  as  glove  leather  and  as  com- 
fortable to  the  feet.    It  does  not  harden  with  age,  nor  does  it  stiffen  after  being  wet. 


One  of  the  most  interesting  sight 
while  going  through  the  tanneries 
is  the  orocess  of  disposing  of  waste 
materials,  such  as  hair,  fleshings 
and  the  sediments  from  the  limj 
and  sulphur  vats. 

The  hair  is  separated  into  white, 
brown  and  black  colors,  each  color 
taking  its  turn  through  the  huge 
mill  or  gin  where  the  hair  is  dried 
and  afterwards  baled.  The  brown 
and  black  are  sold  to  plasterers. 
Those  who  purchase  the  white 
often  mix  it  with  wool  and  use  it 
for  making  many  useful  articles. 

The  fleshings  and  trimmings  are 
sold  to  manufacturers  of  glue. 


UXHAIRING   MACHINE 


WHERE  SHOES  COME  FROM 


541 


The  Ancient  Sandal  Maker  as  pictured  on  the  wall  of  the  ruined  temples  at  Thebes,  Egypt. 


The  Story  in  a  Pair  of  Shoes 


Who  Made  the  First  Shoes  ? 

The  making  of  shoes  is  one  of  the  old- 
est arts  of  which  there  is  any  human 
knowledge.  Long  before  primitiv^e  man 
devised  any  method  of  recording  his 
exploits  or  thoughts,  he  contrived — 
through  necessity — a  method  of  pro- 
tecting his  feet  from  the  rough  way  or 
hot  sands  over  which  he  was  obliged  to 
travel  in  his  search  for  food  and  shelter. 

That  foot  covering  antedates  clothing 
or  ornaments  is  shown  from  the  fact 
that  the  primitive  savage  to-day,  devoid 
of  clothing  or  ornament,  is  almost  in- 
variably found  with  a  crude  form  of. 
foot  protection  and  there  is  scarcely  a 
tribe  or  nation  without  it's  traditions 
of  the  shoe — its  mysterious  power  for 
good  or  evil. 


What    Was    the   First    Foot    Covering 
Like? 

The  first  foot  covering  devised  was 
undoubtedly  a  simple  form  of  sandal — 
a  rough  bit  of  hide,  wood  or  plaited 
grass  held  to  the  foot  by  means  of  thongs, 
generally  brought  up  between  the  toes 
and  tied  about  the  ankle.  This  form 
of  foot  covering  is  depicted  in  records 
of  the  greatest  antiquity :  in  the  ruined 
temples  at  Thebes  Egypt,  the  ancient 
sandal  maker  is  shown  at  his  task;  the 
Assyrian  bricks  show  the  ancient  war- 
riors and  people  of  that  time  wearing 
the  simple  sandal. 

The  dispersion  of  the  human  races 
and  the  wandering  of  tribes  into  colder 
climates  brought  the  necessity  for  more 
thorough   protection   for   the   feet   and 


*  Pictures  by  Courtesy  of  United  Shoe  Machinery  Co. 


542 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  SANDAL  TO  THE  SHOE 


JAPANESE        ZORI 

Ancient  sandal  showing  puckering  string  and        A   flat    sandal   with    felt  sole.     Also   showing 
thongs  for  holding  it  on  foot. ,      "  Tabi  "  or  glove-like  sock  worn  by  Japanese. 


body,  and  that  this  was  accompHshed 
was  shown  in  the  gradual  increase  in 
the  number  of  straps  or  thongs  which 
held  the  sandal  in  place  and,  in  the 
colder  climates,  in  the  contrivance  of 
a  bag-like  foot  covering — traces  of 
which  are  found  even  now  in  the  Indian 
moccasin  and  the  foot  covering  of  the 
Eskimo.  In  all  colder  countries  this 
type  of  footwear  is  still  in  evidence,  the 
seam  around  the  outline  of  the  foot 
being  a  relic  of  the  puckering  string 


which    held    the   bag-like    covering    to 
the  foot. 

The  sandal  was  developed  and  adorned 
by  the  Greeks,  but  it  was  not  until  the 
days  of  the  Roman  Empire  that  any- 
thing approaching  the  present  form  of 
shoes  was  designed.  In  this  period 
a  form  of  foot  covering  was  developed — 
that  was  appropriated  by  the  Emperor 
and  worn  by  him  only — which  covered 
the  entire  foot  with  the  exception  of 
the  toes. 


THE 

EVOLUTION 

OF  THE 

SANDAL 

TO  THE 

SHOE 


ANCIENT  AND   MODERN    FORMS   OF   SANDALS 


543 


Japanese  Astnaa  or  Rough  Weather  Clog. 


Ancient  Turkish  Bath  SHpper. 


The  Crakrow  or    Poulaine  showing  clearly 
traces  of  the  oriental  origin   of   this   design. 


Home  made  sandal  of  Siberian  Peasant. 
Showing  puckering  string  and  key  strap. 


"JAPANESE     WARY 

A  primitive  form  of  foot  covering  very 
generally  used  by  Japanese  at  the  present 
time. 


Modern  sandal  issued  by  the  Mexican 
Ofjvcrnment  for  wear  of   soldiers. 


U4   THE  SHOE  WHICH  THE  CHURCH  AND  LAW  FORBADE 


The  Boot  Developed  from  the  Sandal. 

It  was  but  a  step  from  this  form  of 
foot  covering  to  the  boot  which  covered 
not  only  the  foot  but  the  lower  leg  as 
well  and  which  came  widely  into  use 
afterwards  in  the  form  of  the  Jack- 
boot. 

Up  to  the  fourteenth  century  there 
had  been  little  in  the  way  of  develo])- 
ment  of  foot  covering,  but  it  is  well 
established  that  in  the  year  1408  there 
were  shoemakers'  guilds  in  Europe. 
Some  of  these  were  semi-religious  in 
character,  the  members  working  in 
communities  and  sharing  in  the  general 
product  of  their  toil.  Guilds  of  this 
period  were  very  generally  dedicated 
to  either  Saint  Crispin  or  Saint  Cris- 
pianus  (the  patron  saint  of  shoemaking) , 
and  even  to  this  day  the  birthday  of 
Saint  Crispin  is  celebrated  in  some  of 
the  English  shoemaking  guilds  on  Oct- 
ober 25.  The  ceremonies  attending 
the  celebration  in  the  olden  days  were 
of  a  very  elaborate  nature. 

In  the  process  of  time  the  shoes  began 
to  lose  the  crude  nature  and  design  in 
which  the  Dark  Ages  had  held  them 
and  developed  a  st^de  the  first  of  which 
was  apparent  in  the  gradual  elonga- 
tion of  the  toes,   the  custom  said  to 


broad,  as  evidenced  in  the  i)criod  of 
Elizabeth,  and  in  some  instances  the 
shoes  were  as  broad  as  six  inches  at 
the  toe.  They  were  made  of  velvet 
and  were  slashed  to  show  the  satin 
lining. 

Who  Made  the  First  Shoes  in  America? 

The  first  shoemaking  in  ^Vmeriea  is 
recorded  when  Thomas  Baird  arrived 
on  the  second  voyage  of  the  May- 
flower in  1628.  Baird  was  under  con- 
tract with  the  Phnnouth  Company  to 
make  shoes  for  the  colonists  and  brought 
with  him  divers  hides,  etc.,  for  this 
purpose.  It  was  recorded  that  in  1636 
a  planter  in  Virginia  employed  six 
shoemakers  to  make  shoes  for  his  slaves. 

That  in  the  early  history  of  the 
country  the  art  of  making  shoes  had 
become  of  considerable  importance  is 
shown  by  the  very  summary  laws  passed 
by  the  different  colonies  regulating  the 
industry.  Particularly  was  this  so  in 
the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  which, 
in  172 1,  placed  upon  its  statute  book 
most  drastic  laws  regarding  the  making 
of  shoes  and  regulating  the  prices  to 
be  charged  therefor. 

Shoemaking  in  New  England  early 
received  impetus  from   the  arrival   of 


THE    CR.AKROW    OR    PEAKED    SHOE    OF    THE    FOURTEENTH    CENTURY 


have  been  introduced  by  Henry,  Duke 
of  Anjou,  and  these  shoes  were  known 
as  "  Crakrows  "  or  "  Poulaines."  The 
style  finally  ran  to  such  extremes  that 
effort  was  made  to  stop  it  by  the 
church  and  government,  but  with  in- 
different success  until  finally  its  end 
was  accomplished  by  the  imposing  of 
simimary  fines  and  threat  of  excom- 
munication by  the  church. 

Immediately  the  style  went  to  the 
other  extreme  and  the  toes  became  very 


one  Phillip  Kirtland,  a  Welshman,  who 
came  to  Lynn,  Mass.,  in  1636.  He 
was  an  experienced  shoemaker  and 
taught  his  art  to  many  of  the  colonists 
in  his  vicinity. 

Shoemaking  in  this  locality  was 
further  advanced  by  the  arrival  of 
John  Adams  Dag>T,  who  settled  in 
Lynn  in  the  year  1750.  Dagyr  was  a 
celebrated  shoemaker  and  was  enabled, 
from  his  own  means,  to  secure  the  best 
examples   of   work   from   abroad.     He 


THE  FIRST  MACHINE  FOR  MAKING  SHOES 


545 


possessed  the  peculiar  quality  of  being 
able  to  teach  the  art  to  those  who  came 
under  his  charge. 

The  fame  of  New  England  made 
shoes  was  due  largely  to  the  teachings 
of  these  men  and  the  industry  has 
continued  to  be  one  of  the  first  in 
importance.  In  Massachusetts  alone, 
according  to  the  census  of  19 lo,  over 
40  per  cent  of  the  entire  value  of  shoes 
in  the  United  States  was  produced. 

The  young  man  of  this  period,  who 
essayed  to  learn  the  shoemaking  trade, 
was  ordinarily  apprenticed  for  a  term 
of  seven  years  under  the  most  rigorous 
terms,  as  shown  in  some  of  the  inden- 
tures of  that  period  which  are  still  in 
existence.  He  was  instructed  in  every 
part  of  the  trade  and,  upon  comple- 
tion of  his  term  of  service,  it  was  the 
custom  for  the  newly  fledged  shoe- 
maker to  start  what  was  known  as 
"  whipping  the  cat  " — which  meant 
journeying  from  town  to  town,  living 
with  a  family  while  making  a  year's 
supply  of  shoes  for  each  member 
thereof,  and  then  leaving  to  fill  other 
engagements  previously  made. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  master 
workman  could  largely  increase  his 
income  by  employing  other  men  to  do 
certain  .portions  of  the  work,  while 
he  directed  their  efforts,  and  this 
gradually  lead  to  a  division  of  the  labor 
and  was  the  beginning  of  a  factory 
system — which,  has  been  in  process 
of  development  from  that  time. 

In  the  year  1795  it  is  recorded  that 
there  were  in  the  city  of  Lynn,  Mass., 
over  two  hundred  master  workmen, 
employing  over  six  hundred  journey- 
men, and  that  they  manufactured 
shoes  at  the  rate  of  about  one  pair 
per  day  per  man. 

Factory  buildings,  as  the  words 
would  Vjc  known  to-day,  were  prac- 
tically unknown  at  that  time.  The 
small  Vjuildings,  about  ten  feet  .square, 
were  in  the  back  yards  of  many  homes 
and  in  these  little  shops  were  employed 
from  three  to  eight  men. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  jjrior  to  the 
year  1845  there  had  been  little  change 
in  the  tf)ols  emjiloycd  in  making 
shoes.  The  workman  of  that  period, 
seated   at   his   low   bench,   used   prac- 


tically the  same  implements  that  were 
employed  by  his  prototype,  the  ancient 
sandal-maker  of  Egypt.  The  lap  stone, 
the  hammer,  the  crude  needle  and  the 
knife  being  practically  the  only  tools 
used.  Not  that  there  had  been  no 
effort  to  perfect  machinery  for  this 
purpose;  Napoleon  I,  in  his  endeavor  to 
secure  better  shoes  for  his  soldiers, 
had  offered  great  rewards  for  the  per- 
fecting of  shoe  machinery  that  would 
accomplish  this  purpose,  but  although 
great  effort  had  been  made  there  had 
been  no  successful  machinery  produced. 

In  this  year  1845  the  first  machine  to 
be  widely  adopted  by  the  industry 
was  perfected.  It  was  a  simple  form 
of  rolling  machine,  which  took  the 
place  of  the  lap  stone  and  hammer 
used  by  the  shoemakers  for  toughening 
the  leather,  and  it  is  said  that  a  man 
could,  in  half  an  hour,  obtain  the  same 
results  from  this  machine  that  would 
require  a  day's  labor  on  the  part  of 
the  hand  workman  employing  the 
old  method  of  pounding. 

This  was  followed  in  1848  by  the  very 
important  invention  by  Elias  Howe 
of  the  sewing  machine — which  was  not 
adapted  for  use  in  connection  with 
sewing  leather  until  several  years  later. 
It  started,  however,  an  era  of  great 
activity  among  inventors  and  in  1857 
there  was  perfected  a  machine  for  driv- 
ing pegs,  which  came  into  successful 
operation. 

The  First  Machine  for  Making  Shoes. 

This  was  shortly  followed  by  a  very 
important  invention  by  L}TTian  E. 
Blake,  of  Abington,  Mass.,  of  a  machine 
for  sewing  the  soles  of  shoes  and  this 
afterwards  became  famous  as  the 
"  McKay  Sewing  Machine."  This  in- 
vention of  Blake's  was  purchased  by 
Gordon  McKay,  who  spent  large  sums 
of  money  in  perfecting  it,  and  the  first 
machine  was  established  in  Lynn  in 
1 86 1.  The  results  obtained  in  the 
early  stages  of  the  machines  were  of 
an  indifferent  nature  and  it  was  only 
after  large  exj)enditurcs  and  the  hiring 
of  a  numljcr  (jf  different  inventors  to 
work  upon  it  that  a  successful  machine 
was  produced. 


546 


BOOTS    OF  THE  CAVALIERS   AND   POSTILLIONS 


FRENCH    POSTILLION    BOOT   OF   THE 
FIFTEENTH    CENTURY 


THE   CAVALIER   BOOT   OF    THE 
FIFTEENTH   CENTURY 


MILITARY   JACK    BOOT   OF   CROMWELL's   TIME  MILITARY  JACK  BOOT   OF    SIXTEENTH    CliNTLRY. 


HOW  SHOE  MACHINERY  WAS  DEVELOPED 


547 


While  the  quahty  of  work  was  pro- 
nounced by  manufacturers  to  be  a 
success,  few  had  any  faith  in  the 
possibility  of  manufacturing  shoes  by 
machinerj^  and  McKay  met  with  con- 
stant rebuffs  in  his  endeavor  to  intro- 
duce his  machine.  It  is  recorded  that 
in  his  desperation  he  finally .  offered 
to  sell  all  the  patent  rights  in  machines 
which  he  owned  to  a  syndicate  of 
Lynn  manufacturers  for  the  sum  of 
$250,000.00 — the  amount  he  had  ex- 
pended— but  the  offer  was  refused. 

In  his  dilemma  McKay  at  last  offered 
to  shoe  manufacturers  the  use  of  his 
machines  on  a  basis,  which  afterwards 
became  famous  and  an  inherent  part  of 
the  shoe  industry  known  as  "  royalty," 
whereby  McKay  placed  his  machines 
with  manufacturers  and  participated 
to  a  small  extent  in  the  amount  of 
money  saved.  Owing  to  the  fact  that 
shoemakers  were  leaving  rapidly  for 
the  front  and  that  there  was  a  great 
scarcity  of  footwear,  the  manufacturers 
gladly  accepted  this  proposition  and  the 
machines  were  very  rapidly  introduced. 
The  success  of  his  early  machines 
accomplished,  McKay  set  about  the 
perfecting  of  others  that  would  do 
different  parts  of  the  work  and  there 
was  accordingly  great  activity  on  the 
part  of  inventors  in  their  endeavor  to 
perfect  machines  for  the  wide  variety 
of  uses  made  necessary  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  leather  for  shoemaking.  There 
were  soon  machines  on  the  market  for 
a  wide  variety  of  purposes — including 
the  lasting  of  the  shoe,  cutting  the 
leather  and  for  many  other  processes 
necessary  in  making  a  complete  shoe. 
Contemporary  with  the  early  suc- 
cess of  the  McKay  machines,  a  French 
inventor,  August  Dcstoncy,  conceived 
the  idea  of  making  a  machine  which 
would  sew  turned  shoes — then  a  iJOi)ular 
type  of  footwear  for  women.  After 
several  years  of  endeavor  he  finally 
secured  the  interest  of  John  Hanan, 
a  famous  shoemaker  of  that  time  in 
New  York  City,  and  through  him  the 
interest  of  Charles  (jood  year— nephew 
of  Goodyear  of  India-ruljber  fame. 

No  sooner  had  the  machine  h)ecome 
jjerfccted  for  the  sewing  of  turned 
shoes,  however,  than  he  set  to  work  to 


make  changes  which  would  fit  it  to 
sew  welt  shoes.  (The  welt  shoe  has 
always  been  considered  the  highest 
type  of  shoemaking,  as,  by  a  very 
ingenious  process,  a  shoe  is  made  which 
is  perfectly  smooth  inside ;  all  the  other 
types  having  a  seam  of  thread  or 
tacks  inside  which  make  them  of 
considerable  disadvantage.  He  was 
able  to  accomplish  this  a  few  years 
later,  although  the  machines  were  not 
in  extended  use  until  about  1893, 
when  auxiliary  machines  for  perform- 
ing important  parts  of  the  work  were 
perfected;  and  from  that  time  head- 
way was  made  in  the  manufacture  of 
this  high  grade  type  of  footwear. 

The  development  of  the  industry — 
which  has  been  very  rapid  with  the 
introduction  of  machinery — suffered 
materially  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
last  century  through  the  bitter  rivalry 
of  machinery  manufacturers,  a  common 
process  being  the  enjoining  of  manu- 
facturers from  the  use  of  machines  on 
which  it  was  claimed  the  patents  were 
infringed  and  this  created  a  state  of 
great  uncertainty  in  the  minds  of  many 
of  those  manufacturing  shoes. 

This  condition  finally  found  its  solu- 
tion in  the  formation  of  one  large  cor- 
poration, known  in  the  shoe  industry 
as  the  "  United  Shoe  Machinery  Com- 
pany," which  purchased  the  patents 
for  a  sufficient  number  of  machines 
to  form  a  complete  system  for  the 
"  bottoming  " — or  fastening  the  soles 
and  heels  of  shoes — and  finishing  them. 
These  machines  have  been  the  sub- 
ject of  constant  improvement  and  others 
have  been  perfected  to  take  care  of 
operations  which,  prior  to  their  intro- 
duction, were  purely  hand  operations. 
Each  machine  has  been  standardized 
and  so  adapted  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  those  used  in  connection  with 
it  that  they  collectively  form  the  most 
remarkable  and  efficient  system  of 
machines  used  at  the  present  time. 

Mention  is  made  of  this  company 
owing  to  the  important  position  it 
has  taken  in  the  organization  and 
advancement  of  the  industry,  the 
American-made  shoe  being  the  one 
commodity  of  world-wide  consumption 
whose  supremacy  is  not  contested. 


548 


MY  LADY'S  SLIPPERS  OF    EARLY   TIMES 


EMBROIDERED   RIDING   BOOT  EMBROIDERED    RIDING    BOOT 

WORN -BV  NOBLES  DURING  FROM     PERSIA     OF     ABOUT 

LAST     DAYS     OF      POLISH  185O 
INDEPENDENCE 


FRENCH  CALF  BOOT  MADE 
IN  NEW  YORK  CITY, 
1835 


LADY  S    SHOE — PERIOD    OF    THE    FRENCH 
REVOLUTION 


SHOE PERIOD    OF   LOUIS   XVI. 

Has  wooden  heel. 


lady's    ADELAID    OR   SIDE   LACED    SHOE — PERIOD    183O   TO    1870 


THE    BEGINNING   OF    A    SHOE 


How  Shoes  Are  Made  by  Machinery 


At  the  present  time  the  types  of 
shoes  ordinarily  made  are  but  five: 
the  "  peg  "  shoe,  which  is  the  cheapest 
type  of  shoe  made;  the  "  standard 
screw,"  which  is  used  in  the  soles  of 
the  heaviest  types  of  boots;  the 
"  McKay  sewed,"  which  is  made  after 
the  fashion  established  by  Gordon 
McKay;  the  "  turn  "  shoe,  a  light 
type  of  shoe  which  was  invented  cen- 
turies ago  and  which  is  still  worn  at 
this  time  to  a  limited  extent;  and  the 
"  Goodyear  welt,"  which  has  been 
universally  adopted  as  the  highest 
type  of  footwear. 

For  this  reason,  this  type  of  shoe  has 
been  selected  to  show  the  methods  em- 
ployed in  making  shoes. 

The  Goodyear  Welt  Shoe. — A 
Goodyear  Welt  shoe  in  its  evolution 
from  the  embryonic  state  in  which  it 
is  "  mere  leather  and  thread  "  to  the 
completed  product,  passes  through  one 
hundred  and  six  diflerent  pairs  of  hands 
and  is  obliged  to  conform  to  the  re- 
quirements of  fifty-eight  different  ma- 
chines, each  performing  with  unyielding 
acc-uracy  the  various  operations  for 
which  they  were  designed. 

It  might  seem  that  in  all  this  multi- 
plicity of  ojjcrations  confusion  would 
occur,  and  that  the  many  details  and 
.spec-ifications  regarding  material  and 
design  of  any  given  lot  of  shoes  in  ])roc- 


ess  of  manufacture  would  become 
hopelessly  entangled  with  those  of 
similar  lots  undergoing  the  same  opera- 
tions. But  such  is  not  the  case;  for, 
when  an  order  is  received  in  any  modem 
and  well-organized  factory,  the  factory 
management  promptly  take  the  pre- 
caution to  see  that  all  the  details 
regarding  the  samples  to  which  the 
finished  product  is  to  conform  are  set 
down  in  the  order  book.  Each  lot  is 
given  an  order  number  and  this  number, 
together  with  the  details  affecting  the 
preparation  of  the  shoe  upper,  are 
written  on  tags — one  for  each  two  dozen 
shoes — which  are  sent  to  the  foreman 
of  the  cutting  room.  Others  containing 
details  regarding  the  sole  leather  are 
sent  to  the  sole  leather  room,  while 
a  third  lot  is  made  out  for  the  guidance 
of  the  foreman  of  the  making  or  bot- 
toming room,  when  the  different  parts 
which  have  received  attention  and 
been  prepared  according  to  specifica- 
tions in  the  cutting  and  sole  leather 
rooms  are  ready  to  be  assembled  for 
the  making  or  bottoming  process.  If 
the  tags  which  were  sent  to  the  cut- 
ting room  were  followed,  it  would  be 
found  that  on  their  reccii^t  the  fore- 
man of  this  dei)artment  figured  out 
the  amount  and  kind  of  leather  re- 
quired, the  kind  of  linings,  stays,  etc., 
and  tliat  the  leather,  together  with  the 


550 


SHOEMAKINQ   MACHINERY    IS  ALL   BUT    HUMAN 


tags  which  gave  directions  regarding 
the  size,  etc.,  was  sent  to  one  of  the 
operators  of  the  Ideal  CHcking  Machine. 

This  machine  has  been  pronounced 
one  of  the  most  important  innovations 
that  have  been  made  in  the  shoe  manu- 
facturing industry  during  recent  years, 
as  it  pcrfonns  an  operation  which  has 
heretofore  successfully  withstood  every 
attempt  at  mechanical  aid.  Prior  to 
its  introduction,  the  cutting  of  upper 
leather  was  accomplished  by  the  use  of 
patterns  made  with  metal  edges,  which 
were  laid  upon  the  leather  by  cutter, 
who  then  ran  a  small  sharp  knife  along 
the  edges  of  the  pattern,  cutting  the 
leather  to  conform  to  it.  This  was  a 
slow  and  laborious  process,  and  if 
great  care  was  not  taken,  there  was  a 
tendency  to  cut  away  from  the  pattern; 
and  in  many  cases,  through  some  slip 
of  the  knife,  the  leather  was  cut  beyond 
the  required  limits. 

This  machine  has  a  cutting  board 
ver}^  similar  to  those  which  were  used 
by  the  hand  workman  and  over  it 
is  a  beam  which  can  be  swomg  either 
to  the  right  or  to  the  left,  as  desired, 
and  over  any  portion  of  the  board. 
Any  kind  of  skin  to  be  cut  is  placed 
on  the  board,  and  the  operator  places 
a  die  of  unusual  design  on  it.  Grasping 
the  handle,  which  is  a  part  of  the  swing- 
ing beam,  he  swings  the  beam  over  the 
die,  and  on  downward  pressure  of  the 
handle  a  clutch  is  engaged  which 
brings  the  beam  downward,  pressing 
the  die  through  the  leather.  As  soon 
as  this  is  accomplished,  the  beam  auto- 
matically returns  to  its  full  height  and 
remains  there  until  the  handle  is  again 
pressed. 

The  dies  used  are  but  three-quarters 
of  an  inch  in  height  and  are  so  light 
that  they  do  not  mar  the  most  deli- 
cate leather  when  placed  upon  it. 
They  enable  the  operator  to  see  clearly 
the  entire  surface  of  the  leather  he  is 
cutting  out,  and  it  is  obvious  that 
the  pieces  cut  by  the  use  of  any  given 
die    must    be    identically    the    same. 

After  the  different  parts  required  by 
the  tag  have  been  cut  out  by  the  opera- 
tor of  the  Clicking  Machine,  some  of 
the  edges  which  show  in  the  finished 
shoe  must  be  skived  or  thinned  down 


to  a  beveled  edge.  This  work  is 
performed  by  the  Amazccn  Skiving 
Machine — a  wonderful  little  machine 
in  which  the  edge  to  be  skived  is  fed 
to  a  sharp  revolving  disk  that  cuts 
it  down  to  the  desired  bevel.  The 
machine  does  the  work  in  a  very 
efficient  maimer,  conforming  to  all  the 
curves  and  angles.  This  skiving  is 
done  in  order  that  the  edges  may  be 
folded,  to  give  the  ]jarticular  edge  on 
which  it  is  perfonned  a  more  finished 
appearance.  The  skived  edges  are 
then  given  a  little  coating  of  cement  and 
aftJerwards  folded  on  a  machine  which 
turns  back  the  edge  and  incidentally 
pounds  it  down,  so  that  it  presents 
a  very  smooth  and  finished  appearance. 

Aside  from  the  work  of  skiving  toe 
caps  and  folding  them,  there  is  generally 
a  series  of  ornamental  perforations  cut 
along  the  edge  of  the  cap.  This  is 
done  very  often  by  the  Power  Tip 
Press,  by  means  of  which  the  piece  to 
be  perforated  is  placed  under  a  series 
of  dies  which  cuts  the  perforations  in 
the  leather  according  to  a  predeter- 
mined design,  doing  the  work  all  at 
one  time.  The  number  of  designs 
used  for  this  purpose  are  many  and 
varied,  combinations  of  different  sized 
perforations  being  worked  out  in  in- 
numerable designs. 

On  one  of  the  top  linings  of  each  shoe 
there  has  been  stamped  the  order  num- 
ber, together  with  the  size  of  the 
shoe  for  which  the  lingings  were 
intended.  After  all  the  lingings  have 
been  prepared  in  accordance  with  the 
instructions  on  the  tag,  they,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  various  parts  of  the  shoe, 
receive  attention  from  the  Stitchers, 
where  all  the  different  parts  of  the  upper 
are  united.  The  work  is  performed 
on  a  range  of  wonderful  machines, 
which  perform  all  the  different  opera- 
tions with  great  rapidity  and  accuracy. 

At  the  completion  of  these  operations 
the  shoe  is  ready  to  receive  the  eye- 
lets, which  are  placed  with  remarkable 
speed  and  accuracy  by  the  Duplex 
Eyeletting  Machine.  This  machine 
eyelets  both  sides  of  the  shoe  at  one 
time  with  bewildering  rapidity.  The 
eyelets  are  securely  placed  and  accu- 
rately spaced;    and  as  both   sides  of 


THE  DIFFERENT  PARTS   OF  THE  SHOE    COME  TOGETHER     551 


the  upper  are  eyeletted  at  one  time, 
the  eyelets  are  placed  directly  opposite 
each  other,  which  greatly  helps  the 
fitting  of  the  shoe,  as  thereby  the 
wrinkling  of  the  shoe  upper  is  avoided. 

With  the  completion  of  this  operation, 
the  preparation  of  the  shoe  upper  is 
finished,  and  the  different  lots  with 
their  tags  are  sent  to  the  bottoming 
room  to  await  the  coming  of  the  dif- 
ferent sole  leather  portions  of  the  shoe. 
These  have  been  undergoing  prepara- 
tion in  the  sole  leather  room,  where 
on  receipt  of  tag  the  foreman  has  given 
directions  for  the  preparation  of  out- 
soles,  insoles,  counters,  toe  boxes  and 
heels,  to  conform  with  the  require- 
ments of  the  order. 

The  soles  are  roughly  died  out  from 
sides  of  sole  leather  on  large  Dieing- 
out  Machines,  which  press  heavy  dies 
down  through  the  leather ;  but  to  make 
them  conform  exactly  to  the  required 
shape,  they  are  generally  rounded  out 
on  a  machine  known  as  the  "  Planet 
Rounding  Machine,"  in  which  the 
roughly  died-out  piece  of  leather  is 
held  between  clamps,  one  of  which 
is  the  exact  pattern  of  the  sole.  On 
starting  the  machine,  a  little  knife 
darts  around  this  pattern,  cutting  the 
sole  exactly  to  conform  with  it. 

The  outsole  is  now  passed  to  a  heavy 
Rolling  Machine,  where  it  is  subjected 
to  tons  of  pressure  between  heavy  rolls. 
This  takes  the  place  of  the  hammering 
which  the  old-time  shoemaker  gave 
his  leather  and  brings  the  fibres  very 
closely  together,  greatly  increasing  its 
wear. 

This  sole  is  next  fed  to  a  machine 
called  the  "  Summit  SpHtting  Machine 
— Model  M,"  which  reduces  it  to  an 
exactly  even  thickness.  The  insole — 
which  is  made  of  very  much  lighter 
leather — is  j;rcpared  in  much  the  same 
manner,  and  in  this  way  it  will  be 
noticed  that  both  the  insole  and  out- 
sole  are  reduced  to  an  absolutely  uni- 
form thickness. 

The  insole  also  receives  further 
preparation;  it  is  channeled  on  the 
Goodyear  Channeling  Machine.  This 
machine  cuts  a  little  slit  along  the 
edge  of  the  insole,  extending  about 
one-half  inch  towards  its  center.    It  also 


cuts  a  small  channel  along  the  surface. 

The  lip  which  has  been  formed  by 
the  Goodyear  Channeling  Mach  ne  is 
now  turned  up  on  the  Goodyear  Lip 
Turning  Machine,  so  that  it  extends 
out  at  a  right  angle  from  the  insole, 
forming  a  lip  or  shoulder  against  which 
the  welt  is  sewed.  The  cut  which  has 
been  made  on  the  surface  inside  this 
lip  serves  as  a  guide  for  the  operator 
of  the  Welt  Sewing  Machine,  when 
the  shoe  reaches  chat  stage. 

The  heels  to  be  used  on  these  shoes 
have  also  been  formed  from  different 
lifts  of  leather  which  are  cemented 
together.  The  heel  is  then  placed 
under  great  pressure,  giving  it  exact 
form  and  greatly  increasing  its  wear. 

The  counters  are  also  prepared  in 
this  room,  as  well  as  the  toe  boxes  or 
stiffening,  which  is  placed  between  the 
toe  cap  and  the  vamp  of  the  shoe. 
When  these  are  all  completed,  they  are 
sent  to  the  making  or  bottoming 
room,  where  the  completed  shoe  upper 
is  awaiting  them.  Here  a  wonder- 
fully ingenious  little  machine  called 
the  "  Ensign  Lacing  Machine,"  passes 
strong  twine  through  the  eyelets  and 
in  a  twinkling  ties  it  automatically. 
This  is  done  so  that  all  parts  of  the 
shoe  will  be  held  in  their  normal 
position  while  the  shoe  is  being  made. 
The  knot  tied  by  this  machine  is  per- 
fect and  is  performed  with  mechanical 
exactness.  On  high-grade  shoes  this 
work  was  formerly  performed  by  hand 
and  it  will  be  readily  recognized  how 
difficult  it  was  to  obtain  uniformity. 
The  spread  of  the  upper  at  the  throat 
can  be  regulated  perfectly  when  this 
machine  is  used.  The  different  parts 
of  the  shoe  now  commence  to  come 
together.  The  workman  places  the 
toe  box,  or  stiffening,  in  the  proper 
location  as  well  as  the  counter  at  the 
heel,  and  draws  the  vipper  over  the  last. 
To  the  bottom  of  this  last  has  already 
been  tacked  by  means  of  the  U.  S.  M. 
Co.  Insole  Tacking  Machine— which 
drives  tacks  automatcially — the  insole, 
which,  it  \v\\l  be  noticed,  conforms 
exactly  to  the  shape  of  the  bottom  of 
the  last.  This  last,  made  of  wood,  is  of 
the  utmost  importance,  for  upon  the 
last  depends  the  shape  of  the  shoe. 


552       EACH   SHOE   MACHINE   DOES   SOMETHING   DIFFERENT 


Operator  locates 
back  seam  of  upper 
on  last.  Machine 
drives  two  tacks 
wliich  hold  it  in 
place. 


The  shoe  as  completed  up  to  this 
l)oint  with  the  parts  mentioned  fastened 
together  as  shown,  is  now  ready  for 
assembHng.  The  workman,  after 
placing  the  last  inside  the  shoe  upper, 
puts  it  on  the  spindle  of  the  Rex 
Assembling  Machine,  where  he  takes 
care  that  the  seam  at  the  heel  is 
properly  located.  He  presses  a  foot 
lever  and  a  small  tack  is  driven  part 
way  in,  to  hold  the  upper  in  place. 
He  then  hands  it  over  to  the  operator 
of  the  Rex  Pulling-Over  Machine. 

This  machine  is  a  very  important 
one;  for  as  the  parts  of  the  shoe  upper 
have  been  cut  to  exactly  conform  to 
the  shape  of  the  last,  it  is  necessary 
that  they  should  be  correctly  placed  on 
the  last  to  secure  the  desired  results. 
The  pincers  of  this  machine  grasp  the 
leather  at  different  points  on  each  side 
of  the  toe;   and  the  operator,  standing 


Draws  shoe  upper  smoothly  down  to  last- 
Operator  adjusts  it  so  that  each  seam  occu- 
pies correct  position  on  last.  Machine  auto- 
matically drives  back  to  hold  it  in  place. 


in  a  position  from  which  he  can  see 
when  the  upper  is  exactly  centered, 
presses  a  foot  lever,  the  pincers  close 
and  draw  the  leather  securely  against 
the  wood  of  the  last.  At  this  point 
the  operation  of  the  machine  halts. 
By  moving  different  levers,  the  work- 
man is  able  to  adjust  the  shoe  upper 
accurately,  so  that  each  part  of  it 
lies  in  the  exact  position  it  was  intended 
when  the  shoe  was  designed.  When 
this  important  operation  has  been 
completed,  the  operator  again  presses 
a  foot  lever,  the  pincers  move  toward 
each  other,  drawing  the  leather  securely 
around  the  last,  and  at  the  same  time 
there  are  driven  automatically  two 
tacks  on  each  side  and  one  at  the  toe, 
which  hold  the  upper  securely  in  posi- 
tion. These  tacks  are  driven  but 
part  way  in,  so  that  they  may  be  after- 
ward removed. 


HAND     METHOD 
LASTING    MACHINE 

Last  sides  of  shoe. 


The  shoe  is  now  ready  for  lasting. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  and 
imjjortant  parts  of  the  shoemaking 
process,  for  upon  the  success  of  this 
operation  depends  in  a  great  measure 
the  beauty  and  comfort  of  the  shoe. 
The  Consolidated  Hand  Method  Welt 
Lasting  Machine,  which  is  used  for 
this  purj^ose,  takes  its  name  from  the 
almost  human   way   in   which   it   per- 


forms this  part  of  the  work.  It  is 
wonderful  to  observe  how  evenly  and 
tightly  it  draws  the  leather  around 
the  last.  At  each  pull  of  the  pincers 
a  small  tack  driven  automatically 
part  way  in  holds  the  edge  of  the  upper 
exactly  in  place,  so  that  in  the  finished 
shoe  every  part  of  the  upper  has  been 
stretched  in  all  directions  equally. 
The  toe  and  heel  of  the  shoe  are  con- 
sidered particularly  difficult  portions 
to  last  properly.     This  important  part 


LASTING   MACHINE 

Last  toe  and  heel 
of  shoe. 


of  the  work  is  now  being  very  gener- 
ally performed  on  the  U.  S.  M.  Co. 
Lasting  Machine — No.  5,  a  machine 
of  what  is  known  as  the  "  bed  type." 
It  is  provided  with  a  series  of  wipers 
for  toe  and  heel,  which  draw  the 
leather  simultaneously  from  all  direc- 
tions. There  can  be  no  wrinkles  at 
the  toe  or  heel  of  shoe  on  which  it  is 
I)ropcrly  used  and  the  quality  of  work 
produced  by  it  has  been  very  generally 
recognized  as  a  distinct  advance  in 
this  important  part  of  shoemaking. 
After  the  leather  has  been  brought 
smoothly  around  the  toe  it  is  held 
there  by  a  little  tape  fastened  on  each 
side  of  the  toe  and  which  is  held  securely 
in  place  by  the  surplus  leather  crim])led 
in  at  this  ])oint.     The  suri)lus  leather 


554 


A   MACHINE   THAT   FORMS   AND   DRIVES   TACKS 


crimpled  in  at  the  heel  is  forced  smoothly 
down  against  the  insole  and  held  there 
by  tacks  driven  by  a  very  ingenious 
hand  tool  in  which  there  is  a  constantly 
renewed  sui)ply  of  tacks. 


UPPER   STAPLING 
MACHINE 

Forms  small  sta- 
ples from  wire. 

Holds  shoe  upper 
to  lip  of  insole. 


In  all  of  the  lasting  operations  the 
tacks  are  driven  but  part  way  in, 
except  at  the  heel  portion  of  the 
shoe,  where  they  are  driven  through  the 
insole  and  clinched  on  the  iron  heel 
of  the  last.  The  tacks  are  driven  only 
part  way  in,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
afterward  withdrawn  so  as  to  leave 
the  inside  of  the  shoe  perfectly  smooth. 
In  making  shoes  other  than  Goodyear 
Welts,  with  the  exception  of  the  Good- 
year Turn  Shoe,  it  is  necessary  to  drive 
the  tacks  through  the  insole  and  clinch 
them  inside  the  shoe,  so  that  the  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  sole  inside  the 
shoe  have  clinched  tacks.  These  are 
left  even  after  the  shoe  is  finished. 
This  smooth  interior  of  the  shoe  is 
one  of  the  essential  features  of  the 
Goodyear  Welt  Process. 

In  the  lasting  operation  there  is 
naturally  a  surplus  amount  of  leather 
left  at  the  toe  and  sometimes  around 
the  sides  of  the  shoe,  and  this  is  removed 
on  the  Rex  Upper  Trimming  Machine 


in  which  a  little  knife  cuts  away  the 
surplus  portion  of  the  leather  very 
smoothly  and  evenly,  and  simultane- 
ously a  small  hammer  ojicrating  in 
connection  with  the  knife  pounds  the 
leather  smooth  along  the  sides  and 
the  toe  of  the  shoe.  The  shoe  then 
passes  to  the  Rex  Pounding  Machine, 
in  which  a  hammer  pounds  the  leather 
and  counter  around  the  heel  so  that  the 
stiff  portion  of  the  shoe  confonns 
exactly  to  the  shape  of  the  last. 


UPPER   TRIMMING 
MACHINE. 

Trims  off  surplus 
part  of  shoe  upper 
and  lining. 


The  shoe  is  now  ready  to  receive  the 
welt,  which  is  a  narrow  strip  of  leather 
that  is  sewed  along  the  edge  of  the  shoe, 
beginning  where  the  heel  is  placed 
and  ending  at  the  same  spot  on  the 
opposite  edge.  This  welt  is  sewed 
from  the  inside  lip  of  the  insole,  so 
that  the  needle  passes  through  the 
Hp,  upper  and  welt,  uniting  all  three 
securely  and  allowing  the  welt  to 
protude  evenly  along  the  edge.  The 
needle  in  making  this  stitch  does  not 
go  inside  the  shoe,  but  passes  through 
only  a  portion  of  the  insole,  leaving  the 
inside  perfectly  smooth.  This  part  of 
the  work  was  formerly  one  of  the  most 
difficult  and  laborious  tasks  in  shoe- 
making.  As  it  was  performed  entirely 
by  hand,   the  drawing  of  each  stitch 


AN   AUTOMATIC   SEWING   MACHINE   WHICH   NEVER  TIRES    555 


depended  upon  the  strength  and  mood 
of  the  workman.  It  is  of  course 
obvious  that  with  different  operators 
stitches  were  oftentimes  of  different 
lengths  and  drawn  at  different  ten- 
sions; for  human  nature  is  much  the 
same  ever}avhere,  and  it  is  impossible 
for  a  workman  who  has  labored  hard 
all  day  to  draw  a  stitch  with  the  same 
tension  at  night  as  might  have  been 
possible  in  the  morning. 


evenly  and  tightly;  for  the  machine 
never  tires,  and  it  draws  the  thread 
as  strongly  in  the  evening  as  in  the 
morning.  Every  completed  movement 
of  the  needle  forms  a  stitch  of  great 
strength,  which  holds  the  welt,  upper 
and  insole  securely  together. 

As  the  lasting  tacks  as  well  as  the 
tacks  which  hold  the  insole  in  place 
on  the  last  were  withdrawn  just  prior 
to  this  operation,  it  will  be  seen  that 


WliLT    AND    TURNED    SHOE    SEWING    MACHINE 

Upper  portion  shows  operator  at  machine.     The  lower  shows  formation  and  location  of 
stitch  formed  by  this  machine. 


It  is  surprising  how  quickly  and 
easily  the  work  is  done  on  the  Good- 
year Welt  Sewing  Machine.  This  fam- 
ous machine  has  been  the  leading 
factor  in  the  great  revolution  that  has 
taken  place  in  shoe  manufacturing. 
Its  work  should  be  carefully  noted- - 
all  stitches  of  equal  length  and  meas- 
ured automatically,  the  strong  linen 
thread   thoroughly   waxed    and    drawn 


the  inside  of  the  shoe  is  left  perfectly 
smooth.  After  this  process  the  sur- 
plus portions  of  the  lip,  upper  and  welt 
which  protrude  beyond  the  stitches 
made  by  the  Goodyear  Welt  Machine 
are  trimmed  off  by  the  Goodyear 
Inseam  Trimming  Machine — a  most 
efficient  machine,  in  which  a  revoK^ing 
cui>sha])ed  knife  comes  in  contact 
with  the  surjjlus  ])ortions  of  the  leather 


556  PUTTING  THE  GROUND  CORK  AND  RUBBER  CEMENT  IN  SHOES 


Trims  shoe  upper 
lining  and  lip  of  in- 
sole smooth  down 
to  stitches. 


and    trims    them    off    very    smoothly 
down  to  the  stitches. 

At  this  stage  the  shoe  is  passed  to 
the  Universal  Welt  Beater,  in  which  a 
little  hammer  \dbrating  very  rapidly 
beats  the  welt  so  that  it  stands  out 
evenly  from  the  side  of  the  shoe.  As 
the  leather  is  bent  around  the  toe,  it 
is   the   natural   tendency   of   the  welt 


WELT  BEATING  AND 
SLASHING    MACHINE 

Beats  welt  so  that 
it  stands  out  evenly 
round  edge  of  shoe. 


to  draw  more  tightly  at  that  place, 
and  this  is  taken  care  of  by  a  little 
knife  which  the  operator  forces  into 
operation,  in  the  beating  process,  the 
toe  is  being  taken  care  of,  and  it  makes 
a  series  of  little  cuts  diagonally  along 
the  edge  of  it.  The  insole  and  welt 
now  receive  a  coating  of  rubber  cement. 
This  cement  is  contained  in  an  air- 
tight tank  and  is  applied  by  means  of 
a  revolving  Inrush,  which  takes  its 
supply  of  cement,  as  required,  from  a 
can. 

In  this  way,  an  even  coating  of  any 
desired  thickness  is  given  to  the  insole 


PLACING      SHANK 
AND     FILLING     BOT- 
TOM. 

Workman  tacks 
shank  in  place  and 
fills  bottom  with 
ground  cork  and 
rubber  cement. 


and  welt.  This  machine  has  many 
advantages;  the  cement  being  closely 
confined  in  the  tank,  there  is  almost 
no  waste  in  its  use.  Formerly,  when 
this  was  done  by  hand,  the  waste 
through  evaporation  or  lack  of  care  on 
the  part  of  the  workman  was  very 
material. 

The  heavy  outsole  of  the  shoe  also 
receives  at  this  time  proper  attention. 
The  flesh  side  of  this  sole,  or  the  side 
next  to  the  animal,  receives  a  coating 
of  rubber  cement,  and  after  it  has  dried 
slightly  the  operator  of  the  Goodyear 
Improved  Twin  Sole  Laying  Machine 


MACHINES   WHICH   PUT  THE   SOLES   ON   SHOES 


557 


Presses  outsole 
to  bottom  of 
shoe  where  it  is 
held  by  rubber 
cement. 


takes  the  work  in  hand.  In  this 
machine  there  is  a  rubber  pad,  or 
mould,  which  has  been  made  to  con- 
form to  the  curve  in  the  sole  of  the 
shoe.  After  placing  the  last  on  the 
spindle,  which  is  suspended  from  the 
machine  and  hangs  over  the  rubber 
mould,  the  outsole  having  been  pre- 
viously pressed  against  the'  bottom 
of  the  shoe,  the  operator  by  pre'ssing 
the  foot  lever  causes  this  arm  to 
descend,  forcing  the  shoe  down  into 
the  mould,  so  that  every  portion  of 
the  sole  is  pressed  against  the  bottom 
of  the  shoe  and  welt.  Here  they 
are  allowed  to  remain  for  a  sufficient 
length  of  time  for  the  cement  to  prop- 
erly set,  the  operation  being  repeated 
on  a  duplicate  part  of  the  machine, 
the  operator  leaving  one  shoe  under 
pressure  while  he  is  preparing  another. 
The  next  operation  is  that  of  trim- 
ming the  sole  and  welt  so  that  they 


Roughly  rounds  outsole  and  welt  to  conform 
to  shape  of  last.  Cuts  small  channel  along 
edge  for  stitches. 


558 


SEWING   THE   SOLE   TO   THE   SHOE 


will  protrude  a  iinifonn  distance  from 
the  edge  of  the  shoe.  This  work  is 
performed  on  the  Goodyear  Universal 
Rough  Rounding  Machine,  which 
gauges  the  distance  exactly  from  the 
edge  of  the  last.  It  is  often  desired 
to  have  the  edge  extended  further  on 
the  outside  of  the  shoe  than  it  does  on 
the  inside  and  also  that  the  width  of 
the  *  edge  should  be  considerably  re- 
duced in  the  shank  of  the  shoe.  This 
is  taken  care  of  with  great  accuracy 
by  the  use  of  this  machine.  The 
operator  is  able  to  change  the  width 
at  will.  By  the  use  of  this  remarkable 
machine  the  operator  is  also  enabled 
to  make  the  sole  of  the  shoe  conform 
exactly  to  all  others  of  similar  size 
and  design. 


Goodyear  Outsolc  Rapid  Lockstitch 
Machine,  which  is  very  similar  in 
operation  to  the  Goodyear  Welt  Sewing 
Machine  used  in  sewing  the  welt  to 
the  shoe.  The  stitch,  however,  is 
finer  and  extends  from  the  channel 
which  was  cut  for  it  to  the  upper  side 
of  the  welt,  where  it  shows  after  the 
shoe  has  been  finished.  The  lock- 
stitch formed  by  this  machine  is  a  most 
durable  one.  Using  a  thoroughly  waxed 
thread,  it  holds  the  outsolc  securely 
in  place,  even  after  the  connecting 
stitches  have  been  worn  off.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  important  machines 
in  the  shoemaking  process.  It  is  able 
to  sew  even  in  the  narrow  shank,  where  a 
machine  using  a  straight  needle  could 
not  possibly  place  its  stitch. 


The  surplus  portion  of  the  leather 
is  now  trimmed  off  on  the  Heel-Seat 
Rounding  Machine,  and  the  channel 
cut  by  the  knife  on  the  Rough  Round- 
ing Machine  is  tiimed  up  so  that  it 
leaves  the  channel  open.  This  is  done 
by  the  Goodyear  LFniversal  Channel 
Opening  Machine,  in  which  a  little 
wheel,  turning  very  rapidly,  lays  the 
lip  smoothly  back. 

The  outsole  is  now  sewed  to  the  welt. 
This    operation   is   performed    on    the 


CHANNEL     CEMENT- 
ING     MACHINE. 

Coats  surface  of 
channel  so  it  may 
be  laid  to  cover 
stitches. 


The  "  Star  Channel  Cementing 
Machine — Model  A  "  is  again  called 
into  operation  for  the  purpose  of  coat- 
ing with  cement  the  inside  of  the  channel 
in  which  this  stitch  has  been  made. 
A  special  brush  with  guard  is  used  for 
this  purpose,  and  the  operation  is 
very  quickly  performed  by  the  skilled 
operator. 

After  this  cement  has  been  allowed 
to  set  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  the 
channel  lip,  which  has  previously  been 


MACHINES  WHICH   PUNCH  THE   SOLES   OF   SHOES 


559 


Rubs  channel  lip 
down      to       cover 

stitches. 


laid  back  against  the  sole,  is  again 
forced  into  its  former  position  and 
held  securely  in  place  by  rubber  cement. 
This  work  is  done  by  the  Goodyear 
Channel  Laying  Machine,  in  which  a 
rapidly  revolving  wheel  provided  with 
a  peculiar  arrangement  of  flanges  forces 
back  into  place,  securely  hiding  the 
stitches  from  observation  on  this  por- 
tion of  the  shoe. 

The  next  operation  is  that  of  leveling, 
which  is  performed  on  the  Automatic 
Sole  Levelling  Machine — one  of  the 
most  interesting  used  in  the  shoe- 
making  process.  This  is  a  double 
machine  provided  with  two  spindles, 
on  one  of  which  the  operator  places  a 
shoe  to  be  levelled.  It  is  securely 
held  by  the  spindle  and  a  toe  rest, 
and  on  the  operator's  pressing  a  foot 
lever,  the  shoe  passes  automatically 
beneath  a  vibrating  roll  under  heavy 
pressure.  This  roll  moves  forward 
with  a  vibrating  motion  over  the  sole 
of  the  shoe  down  into  the  shank, 
passes  back  again  to  the  toe,  then 
cants  to  the  right,  and  repeats  the 
operation  on  that  side  of  the  shoe, 
returning  to  the  toe  and  canting  to 
the  left,  repeating  the  ojK'ration  on 
that  side;    after  which  the  shoe  auto- 


matically drops  forward  and  is  relieved 
from  pressure.  This  rolling  motion 
removes  every  possibility  of  there 
being  any  unevenness  in  the  bottom  of 


LOOSE 
NAILING 
MACHINE 

Drives  small 
nails  which 
hold  outsole 
in  place  at 
heel. 


the  shoe,  and  while  one  shoe  is  under 
pressure  the  operator  is  preparing  a 
second  one  for  the  operation. 


AUTOMATIC    LEVEL- 
LING  MACHINE. 

Rolls     out      any 
unevenness  in  soles. 


WHERE  PAPER  COMES  FROM 


561 


A  LUMP  OF  PULP. 

Paper  such  as  found  in  this  book  is  made  from  trunks  and  limbs  of  trees. 

The  use  of  good  fibers  in  book  paper  is  a  guarantee  of  quaHty  and  durabihty.     The  above 
illustration  represents  a  lump  of  this  pulp  prepared  for  the  beaters. 


How  the  Paper  in  this  Book  is  Made 


Where  Does  Paper  Come  From? 

Egyptians  were  the  first  people  to 
make  what  would  today  be  called  paper. 
They  made  it  from  a  plant  called  papy- 
rus and  that  is  where  the  name  comes 
from. 

This  plant  is  a  species  of  reed.  The 
Egyptians  took  stalks  of  reed  cut  into 
as  thin  slices  as  they  could,  laid  them 
side  by  side ;  then  they  arranged  an- 
other layer  on  top  with  the  slices  the 
other  way  and  put  this  in  a  press. 
When  dried  and  rubbed  until  smooth,  it 
made  a  kind  of  jiaper,  which  could  be 
written  uj)on. 

One  of  the  first  substances  used  for 
making  the  kind  of  jjaper  we  have  to- 
day was  cotton.  I'apcr  was  made  from 
cotton  about  1100  A.  D.  Erom  this  thin 
cotton  paper  our  present  papers  arc  a 
development,  i.e.,  paper  today  is  largely 
made   of   vegetable   fibers.      Vegetable 


fibers  consist  mostly  of  cellulose  sur- 
rounded by  other  things  which  hold  the 
short  vegetable  libers  together. 

The  fibers  best  adapted  for  making 
paper  are  those  of  the  cotton  and  flax 
plants,  and  while  the  tises  of  paper  were 
few,  no  other  material  was  needed  when 
it  was  once  learned  that  cotton  and 
linen  fibers  would  do  for  making  paper. 
All  we  had  to  do  was  to  save  all  the 
old  rags  and  sell  them  to  the  paper  man. 

In  making  paper  from  rags,  the  rags 
were  allowed  to  rot  to  remove  the  sub- 
stances that  incrust  the  cellulose,  and 
tlien  beaten  into  a  pulp,  to  which  a  large 
fjuantity  of  water  was  added.  This 
pulp  was  put  into  a  sieve,  until  the 
greater  part  of  the  water  had  been 
drained  off  by  shaking,  and  the  fibers 
remaining  formed  a  thin  layer  on  the 
bottom  of  the  sieve.  This  layer  of  fiber 
was  put  into  a  pile  with  other  similar 


562 


HOW  PAPER   IS    NOW  MADE   FROM   WOOD 


layers,  and  the  whole  pile  was  placed 
under  a  press,  where  more  of  the  water 
was  removed.  When  they  were  dry,  we 
had  a  very  fair  kind  of  paper  which 
was,  however,  not  much  better  than 
blotting  paper  and  could  not  be  written 
on  with  ink  because  it  was  loose  in 
texture  and  very  absorbent. 

To  give  it  good  writing  surface  it 
was  necessary  to  fill  the  pores.  This 
was  done  by  sizing  which  gave  the 
paper  great  firmness.  Paper  was  sized 
by  drawing  the  layers  of  paper  through 
a  solution  of  alum  and  glue,  or  some 
similar  substances,  and  then  drying 
them,  then  finally  passed  between  highly 
polished  rollers  to  iron  it.  This  gave 
it  the  necessary  smooth  hard  surface. 

In  the  modern  method  of  making 
rag  paper  by  machinery,  the  rags  are 
boiled  with  caustic  soda,  which  sepa- 
rates the  cellulose  fibers,  and  placed  in 
a  machine  in  which  rollers  set  with 
knives  tear  the  rags  to  pieces  and  mix 
them  with  water  to  form  a  pulp.  This 
is  called  a  breaker.  The  pulp  is  then 
bleached  with  chloride  of  lime,  and  is 
passed  on  to  the  sizing  machine.  This 
machine  mixes  the  pulp  with  alum  and 
with  a  kind  of  soap,  made  from  suit- 
able resins  which  serves  the  purpose 
better  than  orlue. 


How    Is    the    Water    Mark    Put    Into 
Paper  ? 

The  pulp,  which  is  now  ready  to  be 
made  into  paper,  is  poured  out  upon  an 
endless  cloth  made  of  fine  brass  wire. 
This  cloth  travels  constantly  m  one 
direction,  by  means  of  rollers,  and  is 
given  at  the  same  time  a  sort  of  vibra- 
tory motion,  to  cause  the  paper  fibers 
to  become  more  closely  felted  together. 
On  the  wire  cloth  web  are  usually 
woven  words,  or  designs,  in  wire,  that 
rise  above  the  rest  of  the  surface.  These 
are  transferred  to  the  paper,  and  are 
called  water  marks.  The  machine  then 
winds  the  finished  paper  into  rolls,  so 
that  it  may  be  handled  conveniently. 

During  the  past  few  years  the  uses 
for  paper  have  increased  so  greatly  that 
there  have  not  been  enough  rags  avail- 
able to  meet  the  demand  for  material, 
and  a  successful  effort  was  made  to  find 
other  material  from  which  paper  could 
be  made.  Many  fibers  were  tried  before 
it  was  found  that  wood  pulp  could  be 
used.  Straw  and  esparto  grass,  a  plant 
that  grows  wild  in  North  America,  were 
found  to  yield  cellulose  having  the  de- 
sired qualities  and  were  used  to  some 
extent.  But  the  problem  was  solved 
when   it   was   learned   that   pulp    made 


NOT  A   WOOD  YARD   BUT  THE  OUTSIDE  OF  A   PAPER  MILL. 

This  shows  the  great  piles  of  trunks  and  limbs  of  trees  near  a  wnnd  pulp  paper  mill  used  in 
making  paper  for  newspapers,  books,  magazines,  etc. 


GREAT  FORESTS  TURNED   INTO   PAPER 


563 


PAPER  TREES. 

This  picture  shows  the  trees  as  they  grow- 
in  the  woods.  These  trees  are  good  for  mak- 
ing paper.  Your  morning  paper,  may  some 
morning  be  printed  on  what  is  left  of  one  of 
these  trees. 

from  trunks  and  limbs  of  trees  would, 
serve  even  then.  At  first  the  powder 
formed  by  grinding  up  logs  was  used, 
but  the  paper  produced  was  not  strong, 
and  could  be  used  for  very  few  pur- 
poses. 

It  was  discovered  finally  that  if  wood 
shavings  were  boiled  in  strong  solutions 
of  caustic  soda,  in  receptacles  that 
would  withstand  very  high  pressure,  the 
wood  fibers  were  separated,  and  a  very 
good  quality  of  cellulose  for  paper 
manufacture  produced,  provided  it  was 
bleached  before  being  made  into  paper, 
and  most  of  our  paper  to-day  is,  there- 
fore, made  of  wood. 

Later  on  this  process  gave  way  to 
the  sulphite  process.  In  the  sulphite 
process,  a  solution  of  sulphite  of  lime 
is  used.  Acid  sulphite  of  lime  results 
when  the  fumes  from  burning  sulphur 
are  passed  through  chimneys  filled  with 
lime.  By  this  process  the  separation 
of  the  fibers  and  the  bleaching  are  done 


GKIXniXG    ROOM. 

In  this  picture  we  see  how  the  trees  are  first 
cut  into  smaller  chunks  before  being  reduced 
to  chips  for  making  pulp. 

af  the  same  time  and  an  even  whiter 
paper  making  material  is  obtained. 

The  sulphite  process  is  now  used  al- 
most exclusively  in  making  paper  from 
wood. 

The  discovery  of  the  process  of  mak- 
ing paper  from  wood  has  led  to  the 
use  of  paper  for  many  purposes  for 
which  it  could  otherwise  never  have 
been  used.  The  wood  plup  is  also  used 
in  the  form  of  papier-mache,  a  tough, 
plastic  substance,  which  is  made  by 
mixing  glue  with  it,  or  by  pressing  to- 
gether a  number  of  layers  of  paper  hav- 
ing glue  between.  Papier-mache  can 
easily  be  molded  into  almost  any  form, 
and  after  drying  forms  a  very  tough 
substance  and  one  that  will  stand  rough 
usage.  It  has  been  employed  for  mak- 
ing dishes,  water  baskets  and  utensils  of 
many  other  kinds,  for  making  the  ma- 
trices for  and  from  electrotype  plates, 
for  car  wheels,  and  many  other  pur- 
poses. 


564  WHERE  THE  INGREDIENTS  FOR  MAKING  PAPER  ARE  MIXED 


MIXING  ROOM. 


The  wood  fiber  must  be  mixed  with  other  ingredients  when  paper  is  made  from  it.  This 
shows  a  comer  of  the  large  electro-chemical  department  for  the  production  of  bleach  and  soda 
used  in  the  preparation  of  rag  and  wood  fibres. 


THE   WATEK   SUPPLY. 


A  good  deal  of  water  is  needed  in  making  paper.  From  twelve  to  fifteen  million  gallons 
daily  are  drawn  from  the  river  and  filtered  through  this  plant  in  Maine;  clean  paper  of  bright 
color  being  dependent  upon  the  use  of  pure  water. 


BEATING  THE  INGREDIENTS  FOR  MAKING  PAPER  PULP    565 


BEATER  ROOM. 


The  ingredients  for  making  paper  are  first  mixed  thoroughly  in  machines  called  "  beaters  " 
before  going  to  the  paper  making  machines.  The  operation  of  beating  is  one  of  the  most 
important  in  paper  making. 


THE   PAPER  COMI.NCi   ()!•  1'    IN    ROLLS. 


As  the  paper  progresses  through  the  machines,  it  passes  over  a  long  series  of  heated  cylinders, 
drying  and  hardening  the  stock  until  it  reaches  the  finished  end.  This  illustration  shows  a 
web  135  inches  wide  being  cut  into  two  rolls.  The  air  pressure  in  the  machine  room  is  slightly 
greater  than  the  atmospheric  pressure  outside,  preventing  dust  from  entering. 


PAPER  STOCK. 

A  large  amount  of 
stock  of  paper  mills. 
This  paper  is  seasoned 
by  holding  it  in  stock 
and  will  be  later  given 
such  surface  as  is 
caUed  for. 


COATING 
MACHINES. 

Where  the 
paper  passes 
through  a  bath 
of  coating  mix- 
ture to  a  long 
drying  gallery  at 
the  end  of  which 
it  is  rewound 
preparatory  to 
being  given  the 
highly  finished 
surface  on  the 
calendaring  ma- 
chine. 


'                           '  '      1    ■■    •.':'-^--a''^i#— ^*""  rr'  ■rL„.-  -i 

^14 

^■■■11^^?^ '-» .  i^%  f  >■■■■ 

i 

^^^^^^^^^^^H^i^^^^^^^^^^^^^'h 

•'^■\.  -■ 

^^^^W  >-■                     J:4X 

.^><»^^       V,:,.   i 

A  section  of  Fin- 
ishing Room  de- 
partment where 
paper  is  passed 
through  alternat- 
ing compressed  fib- 
er and  steel  rolls 
giving  it  the  surface 
required  for  dif- 
ferent classes  of 
printing.  The  pap- 
er on  which  the 
Book  of  Wonders 
is  printed  has  a 
liighly  finished 
smooth  surface  so 
that  the  pictures 
will  come  out  clear. 


568 


WHERE  THE   PAPER  IS  CUT  IN  SHEETS 


The  finished  rolls  of  stock  pass  through  rotary  cutters  which  produce  the  sliects  of  various  required 
sizes.  The  paper  in  the  Book  of  Wonders  was  cut  in  sheets  41x55  inches,  thus  making  it 
possible  to  print  32  pages  on  each  side  of  each  sheet. 


Rotary  Boiler  for  cooking  rags  or  wood  in  making  pulp  for  use  in  manufacture  of  paper. 
Illustrations  showing  manufacture  of  paper  by  courtesy  of  S.  D.  Warren  &  Co. 


HOW   THE   PRINTED   TYPE   OF   THIS   BOOK  WAS   SET        569 


This  picture  shows  the  wonderful  Linotype  machine  by  which  the  type  of  this  book  was 
"  set,"  as  the  printers  say.  The  men  who  operate  the  machine  are  compositors.  Originally 
the  type  matter  of  books  was  set  by  hand  and  the  compositor  composed  in  type  what  the 
author  of  the  book  had  written.  By  pressing  down  on  the  keys  which  you  see  in  tlie  picture,  the 
compositor  sets  the  words  in  lines  of  metal.  This  machine  is  almost  human.  By  toucliing  the 
proper  keys,  the  operator  assembles  a  line  of  matrices  the  details  of  which  are  explained  in  another 
picture,  and  after  this  is  done  the  machine  automatically  casts  a  slug  from  them,  turns  and 
delivers  a  slug  into  a  galley  ready  for  use  and  finally  distributes  the  matrices  back  into  their 
respective  channels  in  the  magazine,  where  they  are  ready  to  be  called  down  again,  by  tlic  toucli 
of  the  key  button.  The  latest  model  linotype  has  four  miig.'izincs  and  can  be  equipped  with 
matrices  which  when  assembled  will  cast  lines  in  from  six  to  twelve  different  sizes  and  styles  of 
type. 

The  assembling  mechanism  is  the  only  part  of  the  linotype  where  the  iiuman  niind  is  ajjplicd 
to  the  working  of  the  machine.  It  is  necessary  for  the  eye  to  read  what  is  to  be  printed,  and  the 
mind,  through  the  medium  of  the  fingers,  to  translate  this  into  assembled  lines  of  matrices; 
after  that  the  machine  acts  automatically. 


570 


THE   LINOTYPE— FOLR   MACHINES   IN   ONE 


The  keyboard  is  made  up  of  90  keys,  which  act  directly  on  the  matrices  in  their  channels 
in  the  magazine.  The  slightest  touch  on  the  keybuttons  releases  the  matrix,  which  drops  to 
the  assembler  belt  and  is  carried  swiftly  to  the  assembler.  When  a  word  is  assembled,  the 
spaceband  key  is  tatched  and  a  spaceband  drops  into  the  assembler.  When  the  necessary 
matrices  and  spacebands  to  fill  the  line  have  been  assembled,  the  operator  raises  the  assembler 
by  pressing  a  lever  on  the  side  of  the  keyboard.  When  the  assembler  reaches  its  highest  point 
it  automatically  starts  the  machine  and  the  matrices  are  transferred  to  the  casting  position. 

This  illustration  shows  the  manner  in  which  matrices  are  constantly  circulated  in  the 
Linotype.  From  the  magazine  they  are  carried  to  the  assembler,  then  passed  to  the  mold,  where 
the  line  is  cast,  and  from  the  mold  after  casting  they  are  raised  to  the  top  of  the  machine  and 
redistributed  to  their  proper  channels  in  the  magazine. 

The  Linotype  is  sometimes  called  a  typesetting  machine,  but  this  is  not  correct:  it  does 
not  set  type.  It  is  a  substitute  for  typesetting.  It  is  strictly  speaking  a  composing  machine, 
as  it  does  composition  but  its  product  is  not  set  type,  but  solid  slugs  in  the  form  of  lines  of  type 
with  the  printing  face  cast  on  the  edge. 

It  is  in  reality  four  machines  so  arranged  that  they  work  together  in  harmony — the  magazine, 
the  assembling  mechanism,  the  casting  mechanism  and  the  distributing  mechanism.  The 
magazine  is  at  the  top  of  the  machine  sloping  to  the  front  at  an  angle  of  about  31  degrees,  and 
consists  of  two  brass  plates  placed  together  with  a  space  of  about  five-eighths  of  an  inch  between. 
The  two  inner  surfaces  are  cut  i^nth  92  grooves  or  channels  running  the  up  and  down  way  of  the 
magazme,  for  carrying  the  matrices.  The  matrices  slide  down  these  channels  on  edge,  with 
the  face  or  punched  edge  down,  and  the  V-end  extending  toward  the  upper  part  of  the  magazine. 
Each  of  these  channels  will  hold  twenty  matrices. 


Linotype  matrices  are  made  of  brass. 
In  the  edge  of  each  matrix  is  either  one  or 
two  letters  or  characters  in  intagho.  The 
thickness  of  the  individual  matrices  is 
dependent  on  the  width  of  the  character. 
By  an  ingenious  arrangement  either  one- 
letter  or  two-letter  matrices  can  be  used 
in  the  same  machine,  and  either  character 
on  a  two-letter  matrix  can  be  used  at  will. 
The  two-letter  matrix  bears  two  char- 
acters, one  above  the  other,  one  of  which 
may  be  a  Roman  face  and  the  other  an 
itali':,  small  capital,  or  black  face.  If  a 
%  ■  W^^''"^  ^^"^  '^  ^^  ^^  composed  partly  of  the  Roman 

^  UPr  face,  which  is  in  the  upper  position  on 

the  matrix,  and  partly  of  the  other  face, 
which  is  in  the  lower  position,  this  is 
accomplished  by  means  of  a  slide  on  the 
assembler  operated  by  a  small  lever. 

When  the  lower  characters  on  the  ma- 
trices are  required,  the  shde  is  shifted  and 
the  matnces  are  arrested  at  a  higher  level,  so  that  the  lower  characters  align  with  the  upper 
characters  of  the  other  matrices  in  the  assembler.  When  the  slide  is  withdrawn  the  matrices  are 
assembled  at  the  lower  level.  By  means  of  this  simple  contrivance,  a  line  may  be  composed 
partly  of  one  face,  partly  of  the  other  face,  or  entirely  of  either  face. 


ONE-LETTER  AND  TWO-LETTER  MATRICES. 


THIS   SHOWS  HOW  THE   HEADINGS   ARE  MADE    IN   CAPITALS  OF  DIFFERENT   TYPE. 

Linotypes  are  guaranteed  to  be  capable  of  setting  above  5000  ems  of  6  point  per  hour,  and 
this  output  is  widely  obtainerl  in  commercial  printing  offices  with  first  class  operators.  When 
a  compositor  speaks  of  the  amount  of  type  he  sets  per  hour  or  day  he  speaks  of  "  ems."  A 
column  of  type  matter  is  so  many  "  cms  "  wide.  The  term  "  em  "  means  the  square  of  the 
particular  size  of  type  that  is  being  set.  Thus  if  a  column  is  said  to  be  13  ems  wide  it  means 
that  an  em  quad  or  square,  could  be  set  13  times  in  the  width  of  the  column.  Type  is  graded 
according  to  size  by  points.  Machine  type  for  book  work  runs  from  5  points  to  12  points. 
A  point  is  one  seventy-second  of  an  inch,  that  is,  there  arc  72  points  to  an  inch.  This  guarantee, 
however,  by  no  means  indicates  the  limit  of  speed  at  which  the  machine  can  be  operated,  as 
evidenced  by  recorrls  of  10,000  to  11,000  cms  per  hour  maintained  for  an  entire  day.  The 
rapidity  of  the  Linotype  is  limited  only  by  the  ability  of  the  operator  to  manipulate  the 
keys,  and  the  extreme  capacity  of  the  machine  has  never  yet  been  attained. 


572 


HOW    THE   LINOTVFM:    MAKES    SOLID   TYPE 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OF   MAGAZINE   SHOWING  CHAN.NhL   ILLL  Ol-    MATRICES. 

This  picture  shows  the  machine  with  part  of  the  magazine  top  and  side  removed.  We 
can  thus  see  how  the  matrices  are  arranged  in'their  respective  grooves  in  the  magazine.  When 
one  of  the  keys  of  the  keyboard  is  pressed  down  the  first  matrix  in  the  corresponding  grove 
in  the  magazine  escapes  and  drops  upon  a  conveyor  belt  and  is  carried  in  its  proper  order  to  an 
assembler,  which  answers  much  the  same  purpose  as  a  printer's  stick.  The  correct  spacing 
or  justification  of  the  line  of  matrices  is  accomplished  by  means  of  spacebands,  which  are 
assembled  automatically  between  the  words  in  the  line  by  the  touch  of  a  lever  at  the  left  of  the 
kevb' :.r '. 


LINOTYPE  SLUGS. 


Instead  of  producing  single  type  characters,  the  Linotype  machine  casts  metal  bars,  or 
slugs,  of  any  length  desired  up  to  36  ems,  each  complete  in  one  piece  and  having  on  the  upper 
edge,  properly  justified,  the  characters  to  print  a  line.  These  slugs  are  automatically  assembled 
in  proper  order  as  they  are  delivered  from  the  machine,  when  they  are  immediately  available 
either  for  printing  from  direct  or  for  making  electrotype  or  stereotype  plates.  They  answer  the 
same  purpose  and  are  used  in  the  same  manner  as  composed  type  matter. 


CASTING   THE   SLUGS   OF   SOLID   METAL 


573 


After  the  slug  has  been  cast, 
the  matrices  are  carried  up  to  the 
second  transfer  position,  where 
they  are  pushed  to  the  right,  and 
the  teeth  in  the  V  at  the  top  of  the 
matrices  engage  the  grooves  in  the 
distributor  bar  of  the  second  eleva- 
tor, which  descends  from  the  dis- 
tributor box  at  the  same  time 
that  the  matrices  rise  to  the  se- 
cond transfer  position.  The  sec- 
ond elevator  then  rises  toward  the 
distributor  box,  taking  the  mat- 
trices  with  it,  but  leaving  the 
spacebands;  these arethen  pushed 
to  the  right  and  slide  into  the 
spaceband  box,  to  be  used  again. 

As  the  second  elevator  rises 
toward  the  distributor  box  with 
its  load  of  matrices,  the  distribu- 
tor shifter  lever  moves  to  the  left 
until  the  elevator  head  has 
reached  its  place  by  the  dis- 
tributor box.  It  then  moves  back 
to  the  right  and  pushes  the 
matrices  off  the  second  elevator 
distributor  bar  into  the  distributor 
box,  where  they  meet  the  "  ma- 
trix lift  "  and  are  lifted,  one  at  a 
time,  to  the  distributor  screws 
and  distributor  bar  proper.  The 
teeth  in  the  matrix  and  the 
grooves  in  the  bar  are  so  arranged 
that  when  a  matrix  arrives  at  a 
point  directly  over  the  channel 
in  which  it  belongs,  it  "  lets  go  " 
and  drops  into  its  channel. 

If,  however,  there  is  a  matrix  in 
the  line  which  was  not  designed 
to  drop  into  one  of  the  channels 
operated  from  the  keyboard,  it 
will  be  carried  clear  across  the 
distributor  bar  and  dropped  into 
the  last  channel,  and  from  there 
it  will  find  its  way  to  the  sorts 
box. 


LINE  OF  MATRICES  BEING  LIFTED  TO  DISTRIBUTOR 


The  casting  mechanism  consists  of  the  metal 
pot,  mold  disk,  mold,  ejector,  and  trimming 
knives.  The  illustration  shows  a  cross- 
section  of  the  metal  pot,  mold  disk,  and  mold, 
with  a  line  of  matrices  in  the  casting  position. 
When  the  line  of  matrices  leaves  the  assembler, 
they  pass  to  a  position  in  front  of  the  mold 
disk.  The  disk  makes  a  one-quarter  turn  to 
the  left,  which  brings  the  mold  from  the  eject- 
ing position,  where  it  stands  while  the  machine 
is  at  rest,  to  the  casting  position.  It  then 
advances  until  the  face  of  the  mold  comes  in 
contact  with  the  matrices.  The  metal  pot 
advances  until  the  pot  mouthpiece  comes  in 
contact  with  the  back  of  the  mold;  at  this 
point  the  pump  plunger  descends  and  forces 
the  metal  into  the  mold  and  against  the 
matrices.  The  pot  then  recedes,  the  mold 
disk  withdraws  from  the  matrices  and  makes 
three-fourths  of  a  revolution  to  the  left,  stop- 
ping in  the  ejecting  position,  from  which  it 
started.  The  slug  is  ejected  and  assembled 
in  the  galley. 

During  the  last  revolution  of  the  disk  the 
bottom  of  the  slug  is  trimmed  off,  and  in  the 
process  of  ejection  the  sides  of  the  slug  are 
trimmed,  so  that  when  it  drops  in  the  galley 
the  slug  is  a  perfect  line  of  type,  ready  for  the 
form. 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OK  METAL   I'OT  WITH  LINE  OF 
MATKIfKS  IN   I'OSITION    IiriOKK  THE  MOLD 


574    HOW  THE   PRINTED  PART  OF    A  BOOK   LOOKS  AT  FIRST 


SCIENTIFIC  PRESS-OVE 
When  Did  K>n  Firit  Try  to  Fly  t 


M\ 


ihr 


'^. 


oldtr  than  rctoriVd  history  \Vhcn  a 
kite  was  rtown  for  »t»e  first  time  the 
principle  of  aviation,  or  dynamic  flight. 
wa&  uncovered.  For  centuries  nun  has 
souf^t  the  mechanical  e*iuivalents  for 
«he  things  that  keep  a  kite  flxing  stead- 
ily in  the  air.— the  )>ovvcr  that  lies  in 
the  cord  that  keej^s  a  kite  headed  into 
(he  wind;  an  equivalent  for  the  wind's 
own  power ;  an  equivalent  for  the  tail 
which  controls  the  kite's  lateral  and 
longitudinal  balance. 

Eacli  separate  p.irt  of  the  modern 
flying  machine,  or  aero(>lane.  was 
worked  out  long  ago.  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Ras  engine  lii;ht  enouch  and 
reliable  enough  to  be  u>ed  for  this 
work.  The  present  pciicr.nion  knows 
dynamic  flight  as  a  conimonpbce  thing, 
not  becau-e  we  are  so  much  more  clever 
than  previous  generation^  in^lesigniuc 
flying  machines,  but  because  of  th  '- 
velopment  of  the  i\iodcrn  ga-olir 
internal  combustion  engir 

Who  IiTented  Flying! 

No  one  invcnlfil  llyinc.  nnr  did  any 
one  man  invent  .ill  the  stiarjie  parts  of 
the  Hying  macliinc.  They  are  the  re- 
sult of  evolution, — of  the  combined 
work  and  thought  of  hundreds  of  men. 
many  of  whose  names  are  unrecorded 
To  attempt  to  find  the  true  beginning 
of  the  modern  flying  machine  would 
be  as  difficult  as  altemplins  to  <liseovcr 
who  planted  tlie  seed  of  the  tree  from 
which  one  h.is  gathered  a  rose.  But 
the  tree  from  whicli  all  the  flying  ma- 
chines, or  acroplanes^of  today  have 
sprung  I  Mndnuhlcdiv  nTj  Dr  Samuel 
Pierriwnt  Ijngley.  third  secretary  of 
the  Smithsonian   Institution. 

•Some  of  tb«  Men  'Who  Helped. 

Taking  the  niost  conspicuous  names 
of  scientists  who  worked  out  variotis 
details  of  the  aeroplane  (firing  the  past 
century  we  fi^d  lliat  a  century  ago  Sir 
George  Cayley  built  a  machine  on  lines 
very  simihr  to  those  accei>ted  today, 
and  he  went  .so  far  as  to  foretell  i!^e_ 
necessity  of  dcvcloi>ing  the  internal 
combustion  engine  before  dynamic 
flight  couW  be  a  success  Mr.  F  H. 
Wenham.  in  180f>.  also  built  a  flying 
machine  along  convciuional  lines  and 
tried  to  fly  It  with  a  steam  engine,  which 
of  course,  proved  too  heavy. 

.\l  A.  Pcnaud.  a  Frenchman,  in  ex- 
penmcninig  with  mo<leIs,  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  to  discover  the  necessity 
of  vertical  and  horizontal  rudders  ii. 
fnainiainin?  lialancc  Mr  Horatio 
Phillips,  an  F-nghshman.  <hscovered. 
and  patented,  the  use  of  curved  instead 
of  flat  surf.ices  for  the  planes.  Otto 
and  Gustav  Lilienihal  are  said  to  have 
been  the  first  to  attempt  to  balance 
aeroplanes  by  flexing  or  bending  the 
wings.  Various  others,  including 
Mts«ts.  Richard  Harte,  Bouhon.  Mouil- 
lard,  worked  tut  ideas  for  balancing 
machines  by  the  usi  of  auxiliary  pl.ines 
which  could  be  xi  at  different  angles 
with  regard  to  iru.  line  of  rtigni.  thus 
forcing  the  machines  to  different  po- 
sitions by  the  force  of  the  air  nishing 
against  them/ 
~  Dr  Langlcy.  trained  in  scientific  in- 
vestigation, conducted  an  elaborate 
series  of  experiments  covering  many 
years  and  costing  thousands  of  drilars 
to  test  and  (irovr  the  value  of  the 
claims  of  the  e.irlier  investiB4inrs__ 
Some  things  which  he  thought  he  was 
(he  first  to  discover, — such  as  the  ef- 
fect of  the  venical  and  honrontal  rud- 
ders,— he  later  found  had  already  !>•«" 
proven  by  otliers.  Independently  he 
covered  the  entire  field  of  experirrent 
and  after  building  hundreds  of  small 
models  he  succeeded,  in  ISOC^n  making 
a  machiiK  weighing  seset.Tl  pounds 
c<iuipped  with  a  very  light  steam  engine 
which  flew  safely  as  long  as  the  fuel 
lasted  For  his  early  cxiicriments  Dr. 
Langley  was  afforded  financial  assist- 
ance by  Mr.  William  Thaw  of  Pitts- 
burg. After  the  success  of  his  small 
machines  Dr  Langley  was  asked  to 
undertake  the  construction  of  a  large, 
tnan-carrying -machine,  and  Congress 
voted  him  S50.000  to  carry  on  the  work- 
A  large  share  of  this  wjs  spent-on  the 
development  ofn,j>»»r^ght  gasoline 
«igTne^^.a*  flicmachine  finally  was^ 
CompTetcd,  but  was  twice  broken 
— through  defective  launching  apparatus. 
Congress  and  Dr  Langley  were  so  ridi- 
culed by  the  public  prc^i  that  the  ma- 


?^ 


^ 


'rtt^ 


A 


As  the  slugs  of  type,  each  of  which  represents 
a  line,  come  from  the  linotype  machine,  they 
are  arranged  in  order  in  a  brass  holder  the 
width  of  the  line  of  type,  called  a  "  galley.'' 
This  holder  is  about  twenty  inches  long.  As 
soon  as  it  is  filled  one  of  the  men  in  the  type- 
setting office  takes  it  to  a  proof  press  where  he 
makes  a  rough  impression  of  it.  He  runs  an 
ink  covered  roller  over  the  top  of  the  slugs, 
lays  a  piece  of  blank  paper  on  it  and  then 
either  runs  another  roller  over  it  or  puts  it  in 
a  hand  press  and  secures  an  impression  of  the 
type  just  as  it  is.  This  is  called  making  a 
"  galley  proof." 

The  galley  proof  is  then  sent  to  the  proof- 
reader who  reads  it  carefully  and  indicates  such 
errors  in  setting  as  appear  and  must  be  changed. 
Before  correcting  the  actual  type,  however,  the 
composing  room  sends  the  galley  proof  to  the 
one  who  is  publishing  the  book.  The  publisher 
also  reads  the  proof  over  carefully  and,  if  he 
does  not  wish  to  change  any  of  the  wording, 
he  sends  it  back  to  the  composing  room  with 
his  "  O.  K."  attached  in  writing.  If  he  wishes 
to  change  the  wording,  he  does  so  and  the 
galley  proof  is  then  returned  to  the  composing 
room  marked  "  O.  K.  after  corrections  and 
changes  are  made." 

The  linotype  operator  then  makes  what- 
ever changes  are  desired  or  necessary  by 
setting  new  lines  where  mistakes  or  changes 
occur.  If  there  is  only  one  wrong  letter  in  a 
line,  he  must  reset  the  whole  line  as  the  ma- 
chine, as  you  remember,  only  turns  out  solid 
lines  of  type.  A  revised  proof  is  then  sent  to 
the  pubhshing  office  and,  if  no  further  changes 
are  to  be  made,  he  gives  instructions  to  have 
the  "  galley  "  made  up  into  pages.  How  the 
pages  are  made  up  is  shown  in  the  next  picture. 


HOW  THE   PAGES  OF  A  BOOK  ARE   MADE   UP 


575 


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HOW  THIS   BOOK   IS   PRINTED 


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HOW  THE  BOOK  OF  WONDERS  IS  BOUND 


577 


When  the  printed  sheets  are  received  in  the  bindery  they  are  fed  into  a  folding  machine 
which  is  shown  here.  A  sheet  of  64  pages  is  folded  and  cut  and  delivered  in  four  sections  of 
16  pages  each  ready  to  be  gathered. 


Here  we  see  a  machine  which  takes  the  folded  sections  of  16  pages  each,  which  are  called 
"  signatures,"  and  sorts  them,  dropping  them  into  compartments  in  order,  so  that  eachcorn- 
partment  finally  contains  the  printed  matter  for  one  book  all  arranged  in  the  order  which  it  will 
be  bound. 

Courtesy  of  the  J.  F.  Tapley  Co.  Now  York. 


578         SEWING    THE    PAGES   OF   THE   BOOK   OP  WONDERS 


Here  we  see  the  girls  at  work  operating  the  sewing  machines  which  sew  the  sections  together 
at  the  back  side  of  the  book. 


The  men  in  this  picture  are  making  the  backs  of  the  books  round  and  preparing  them  for 
the  putting  on  of  covers. 

Courtesy  of  the  J.  F.  Tapley  Co.,  New  York. 


THE   BOOK  OF  WONDERS   IS   READY  TO   READ 


579 


In  this  picture  we  see  the  "  case  makers  "  at  work  making  the  covers  on  which  the  actual 
book  is  bound. 


The  book  is  now  "  bound  "  by  having  the  rovers  jnil  (jii  and  is  ready  for  distribution. 
Courtesy  of  the  J-  F.  Tajjlcy  Co.,  New  York. 


580 


HOW  THE  PICTURES   IN  THIS  BOOK  ARE  MADE 


How  Is  Photo  Engraving  Done? 

The  first  step  is  the  making  of  the 
halftone  negative  which  differs  from 
an  ordinary  negative  in  being  made  up 
of  different  sized  dots  instead  of  shades 
of  gray.  This  result  is  obtained  by 
photographing  the  picture  through  a 
halftone  screen  consisting  of  two  pieces 
of  glass,  ruled  with  black  lines  and 
cemented  together  so  the  lines  cross  at 
right  angles  and  leave  small  squares 
of  clear  glass. 

This  cut  shows  a  section  of 
a  photo-engraving  screen 
enlarged,  illustrating  the 
squares  above-mentioned.  In 
reality  it  would  take  from 
loo  to  400  of  these  dots  to 
make  an  inch,  according  to 
the  fineness  of  screen. 


ts 


The  efifect  of  making  the  negative 
in  this  way  is  to  represent  the  differ- 
ent shades  from  black  to  white  by  large 
or  small  dots.  Wet  plate  photog- 
raphy is  usually  used  in  this  process 
because  the  film  is  thinner  and  more 
intensely  black  besides  being  cheaper 
than  dry  plates. 


This  cut 
shows  a 
portion  of 
a  halftone 
cut  en- 
larged so 
that  the 
dots  can  be 


seen  very 
plainly. 


New  Process  Engraving  Co. 

Having  made  the  negative  the  next 
step  is  to  make  a  printing  plate  from 
it.  To  do  this,  a  piece  of  metal,  copper 
if  the  work  is  fine,  and  zinc  for  coarser 
work,  is  coated  with  a  solution  which  is 
sensative  to  light,  fish  glue  is  commonly 
used  to  which  is  added  a  small  amount 
of  ammonium  bichromate.  The  metal 
being  coated  and  dried,  it  is  put  in 
a  very  strong  frame  with  the  negative 


and  squeezed  together  so  that  they 
are  in  perfect  contact.  A  powerful 
light  is  now  directed  upon  the  negative 
with  the  metal  behind  it,  the  result 
being  that  wherever  the  light  goes 
through  the  white  spaces  in  the  nega- 
tive, the  coating  on  the  metal  is  rendered 
insoluble.  Where  the  dots  on  the 
negative  are,  the  light  is  unable  to  get 
at  the  coating  so  that  when  the  metal 
is  removed  from  the  frame  and  thor- 
oughly washed  this  part  of  the  coating 
washes  away,  leaving  the  part  which 
the  light  got  at  attached  to  the  metal. 
This  is  now  heated  until  the  enamel, 
as  the  coating  is  called,  turns  dark 
brown  and  the  picture  can  be  easily 
seen. 

The  picture  is  now  on  the  metal  but 
it  must  be  made  to  stand  out  in  relief 
before  it  can  be  used  for  printing 
from,  so  it  is  put  in  a  bath  of  acid 
which  eats  away  that  part  of  the  metal 
left  uncovered  by  the  washing  away 
of  the  coating  and  this  leaves  the 
dots  which  make  up  the  picture  stand- 
ing up  in  relief.  A  roller  covered  with 
very  thick  paste-like  ink  is  now  rolled 
over  the  picture,  or  cut  as  it  is  now 
called,  and  when  a  piece  of  paper  is 
pressed  against  the  ink  covered  cut 
each  little  dot  leaves  a  mark  of  ink 
on  the  paper  the  total  making  up  the 
picture  as  we  see  it. 

There  are  many  more  wonderful 
things  connected  with  the  making  of 
cuts  such  as  the  routing  machine 
which  has  a  tool  that  revolves  so  fast 
that  it  turns  around  300  times  while 
the  clock  ticks  once,  and  other  machines 
which  cut  hard  metal  as  easily  as  you 
can  cut  a  potato  with  a  knife. 

Colored  pictures  are  also  made  by 
the  process  outlined  above.  The  pic- 
ture is  photographed  three  times  with 
a  different  colored  piece  of  glass  in 
front  of  the  lens,  the  result  being  three 
negatives,  one  of  which  has  all  the 
blue,  one  all  the  red  and  the  other  all 
the  yellow  in  the  picture.  By  making 
cuts  from  each  negative  and  printing 
them  on  top  of  one  another  in  yellow, 
red,  and  blue,  the  original  picture  is 
reproduced  in  all  its  colors.  This 
is  how  all  our  pretty  magazine  covers 
are  made. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


581 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


The  Editors  of  the  Book  of  Wonders  make  acknowledgment  herewith  to  the 
following.  All  mentioned  have  been  a  great  assistance  in  making  the  book 
not  onl}^  possible  but  authentic: 


Spencerian  Pen  Co. 

Eastman  Kodak  Co. 

American  Telephone  &  Telegraph  Co. 

Remington  Arms  Co. 

Bethlehem  Steel  Co. 

American   Portland   Cement   Alanufac- 

turers  Assn. 
Brainerd  &  Armstrong  Silk  Co. 
Corticelli  Silk  Co. 
Curtiss  Aeroplane  Co. 
U.  S.  Beet  Sugar  Industry. 
Hartford  Carpet  Co. 
Haynes  Automobile  Co. 
Jacobs  &  Davis,  Engineers. 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  Co. 
Endicott,  Johnson  &  Co. 
United  Shoe  Machinery  Co. 
Sherwin-Williams  Co. 
Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Co. 
The  Colliery  Engineer. 
Lake  Torpedo  Boat  Co. 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Co. 
New  York  Edison  Co. 
Westinghouse  Lamp  Co. 
Consolidated  Gas,   Electric  Light  and 

Power  Co.  of  Baltimore. 
Browning  Engineering  Co. 
The  White  Star  Line. 
Marconi  Wireless  Co. 
Plymouth  Cordage  Co. 


American  Woolen  Co. 
The  Vitagraph  Co. 
The  B.  F.  Goodrich  Co. 
The  Goodyear  Rubber  and  Tire  Co. 
The  Lexington  Chocolate  Co. 
The  Hecker-Jones  Milling  Co. 
The  White  Oak  Mills. 
The  H.  C.  White  Company. 
A.  L  Root  Company. 
Kohler  &  Campbell. 
Browne  &  Howell  Co. 
P.  &  F.  Corbin. 
Otis  Elevator  Co. 
■  Scientific  American. 
Joseph  Dixon  Crucible  Co. 
Homer  W.  Laughlin  Co. 
S.  D.  Warren  &  Co. 
C.  B.  Cottrell  &  Sons  Co. 
Mergenthaler  Linotype  Co. 
J.  F.  Tapley  &  Co. 
New  Process  Engraving  Co. 
Mutual  Film  Corporation. 
Tobacco  Trade  Journal  Co. 
AlcClure's  Magazine. 
James   Arthur. 
Seth  Thomas. 
American  Locomotive  Co. 
New  York  Central  Railroad  Co. 
Columbia  Rope  Co. 
Carl  Werner. 
National  Wool  Growers  Assn. 


INDEX 


583 


INDEX 


Acid,  carbonic,  what  it  is,  509 
Aerial,  on  ship,  (illus.),  455 
Aeroplanes,  English  Channel  crossing  (illus.), 
132 

Curtis  biplane  (illus.),  131 

first  demonstrations  of,  130 

first  flight  in  Europe,  129 

first  man-carrying  (illus.),  128 

first  successful  (illus.),  126 

gas  motors  used  in,  130 

gliding,  137 

greatest  present  value  of,  136 

records  of,  131 

red  wing  (illus.),  131 

what  two  brothers  accomplished  for,  130 

Wright  Bros.'  inventions,  130 
Age,  why  do  we,  196 
Air,  does  it  move  with  the  earth?  400 

does  it  weigh  anything?  398 

dust  in,  38 

extend,  how  far  does,  243 
Airlocks,  description  of  in  tunnel  building,  213 
Ammunition,  first  invention  of,  40 

fixed,  47 

in  prehistoric  times,  40 
Animals,  can  they  think  ?  194 

is  man  an,  180 

that  leap  greatest  distance,  122 

which  foretell  weather,  240 
Anthracite  seams  (illus.),  260 
Aqueduct  (illus.),  505 
Are  matches  poisonous,  294 
Armor,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  44 
Army,  wireless  in  the,  448-451 
Are  there  two  sides  to  the  rainbow?  254 
Arrow,  what  causes  it  to  fly?  408 
At  what  point  does  water  boil?  220 
At  what  rate  does  thought  travel?  242 
Australian   Ballot,  where  first  used,  122 
Automobile  (illus.),  axle,  location  of,  186 

beginning  of,  183 

carburetor,  location  of,  184 

carburetor,  use  of,  184 

chassis,  complete,  188 

cog-wheels,  use  of,  183 

cog-wheels,  location  of  (illus.),  183 

crankcase,  location  of  (illus.),  183 

cylinder,  location  of  (illus.),  184 

drive  shaft,  location  of  (illus.),  187 

electric  generator,  use  of,  185 

exhaust,  184 

fenders,  location  of,  188 

fenders,  use  of,  188 

finished  car  (illus.),  189 

first  American  (illus.),  189 

fly-wheel,  location  of  (illus.),  183 

fly-wheel,  use  of,  183 

frame  (illus.),  186 

gasoline,  what  it  does,  183 

gasoline  tank,  location  of,  187 

gears,  location  of  (illus.),  183 

gears,  use  of,  183 

heart  of  (illus.),  184 


Automobile,  how  improved,  190 

magneto,  location  of,  185 

magneto,  use  of,  185 

marvellous  growth  of  twenty  years,  189 

modern  power  plant  complete,  190 

oil  pan,  use  of,  184 

oil  pump,  location  of,  184 

piston,  location  of  (illus.),  183 

piston,  use  of,  183 

power  plant,  an  (illus.),  185 

radiator,  location  of  (illus.),  188 

radiator,  use  of,  188 

ready  for  the  wheels,  187 

second  stage  of  construction  (illus.),  186 

self-starter,  location  of,  185 

self  starter,  use  of,  185 

Smithsonian    exhibit    of    complete    power 
plant,  190 

springs,  location  of  (illus.),  186 

springs,  use  of,  186 

steering  gear,  location  of  (illus.),  187 

street  scene  20  years  ago,  189 

transmission,  location  of,  1 86 

tire  pump,;use  of,  185 

tires,  how  made,  382 

transmission,  use  of,  186 

water  pump,  location  of,  185 

water  pump,  use  of,  185 

what  the  completed  chassis  looks  like  (illus.) 
188 
Bacon,  Roger,  discoverer  of  gunpowder,  44 
Balance,  effect  of  sunlight  on,  37 
Baldness,  chief  course  of,  143 

why  some  people  are,  143 
Ball,  why  it  bounces,  63 

bearings,  what  they  are,  180 
Balloon,  what  keeps  it  up,  199 

why  it  goes  up,  199 
Ballot,  when  first  used,  122 

Australian,  where  first  used,  122 
Bearings,  Ball,  what  they  are,  180 
Bee,  how  it  lives,  336 

why  it  has  a  sting,  336 
Bell,  Alexander  Graham  (illus.),  70 

first  telephone,  72 
Bend,  why  things,  62 
Biplanes,  Curtiss  (illus.),  131 

in  flight,  Curtiss  (illus.),  136 
Birds,  how  do  they  find  the  old  home?  408 

how  they  learn  to  fly,  178 

how  they  find  their  way,  407 

reproduction  of  life  in,  179 

why  do  they  sing?  408 
Birds'  Eggs,  why  different  colors,  233 
Blasting  gelatin,  definition  of,  206 
Bleriot,  M.,  first  European  flights,  129 
Blotter,  capillary  attraction  of,  18 

how  it  takes  up  ink,  18 
Blush,  why  do  we,  194 
Boat,  how  it  can  sail  under  water,  269 

hydroplane  of  submarine,  270 

inside  of  a  submarine  (illus.),  272 
Bodies,  swiftest  moving,  25 


584 


INDEX 


Boiling  point  of  water,  220 

what  makes  water,  220 
Boring  mill  (illus.),  56 
Bottles,  gurgle  in,  63 
Bounce,  why  a  ball  will,  63 
Bow,  long  (illus.),  42 
Bow-and-Arrow,  invention  of,  43 
Boxes,  match,  how  made,  294 
Brazil,  Emperor  of,  receives  first  words  over 

telephone,  74 
Bread,  how  flour  is  made,  462 

difference   in  Graham   and   whole  wheat, 

461 
grinding  wheat  (illus.),  464 
harvesting  wheat,  460 
loaves  of  world  (illus.),  459 
origin  and  meiming  of,  460 
purifying  machine  (illus.),  463 
separating  fibre  germs  (illus.),  463 
wheiit  conditioning  (illus),  462 
when  wheat  was  first  used  in  making,  461 
where  it  comes  from,  460 
why  so  important,  460 
Break,  why  things,  62 
Breech,  of  a  big  gun,  53 
Breech-loaders  in  Civil  War,  48 

in  ride,  47 
Brush,  in  writing,  invention  of,  13 

in  writing  (illus.),  13 
Bullets,  cupro-nickel  used  in,  50 
grading  of,  51 
weighing  of  (illus,).  49 
Buildings,  concrete,  how  made  (illus.),  100 
Buttons,  on  sleeves,  64 
Building,  tallest  in  the  world  (illus.),  395-508 

what  holds  it  up?  496 
Building  foimdations,  construction  of,  496 
compressed  air,  use  of  (illus.),  500 
cutting  piles  with  a  hot  flame  (illus.),  498 
driving  steel  piles,  496 
piles  filled  with  concrete  (illus.),  499 
piles,  length  of,  497 
piles,    sinking    of    (illus.),    497 
use  of  o.xyacetylene,  498 
Cable,  laying  armoring  machine  (illus.),  437 
arrived  on  other  side,  433 
bulge  (illus.),  437. 
gear-paying-out  (illus.),  431 
Great  Eastern,  the,  434,  437 
landing  of  (illus.)  433 
machinery  on  cable  ship  (illus.),  431 
paying-out  machine  (illus.),  431 
shore  end  of  (illus.),  429 
storing  of,  aboard  ship   (illus.),  430 
what  they  look  like  when  cut  in  two  (illus.), 
428 
Cable,  ocean,  Continental  Morse  Code,  438 
how  dropped  (illus.),  432 
how  repaired  (illus.),  435 
inventor  of,  434 
laid,  how,  429 

man  who  made  it  possible,  434 
pioneers  of,  434 
signals  as  received  (illus.),  438 
w^at  is  it  made  of,  429 
Cable,  repairing,  grapnels  (illus.),  435 
how  repaired,  435 
on  rocky  shore,  (illus),  438 
powerful  engines  used  (illus.),  436 
splicing  of  (illus.),  436 


Cable,  service,  map  of  Trans-Atlantic,  439 
Cable,  vault,  <>f  telephone  (iUus.),  67 
Cabriolet,  122 
Cacao,  beans,  bags  of  (illus.),  388 

how  cured,  392 

nibs,  392 
Cacao,  flaked,  how  made,  392 

how  gathered,  391 

pods,  how  gathered,  391 

free,  discovery  of,  388 

and  chocolate,  difference  between,  389 
Cackling,  why  a  hen,  233 
Calibre  of  a  gun,  53 
Calico,  name,  where  from,  123 
Camera,  22 

first  moving  picture,  375 
Can  a  bee  sting?  536 
Can  animals  think?  194 
Candles,   did    they    come   before   lamps?  294 

why  it  burns,  21 

why  it  gives  light,  21 

why  you  can  blow  out,  21-36 

when  introduced,  296 
Candy,  why  do  children  like?  409 

why  does  eating  candy  make  some  peoj-lj 
fat?  409 
Carbon,  352 

Carbonate  of  Soda,  used  in  developing,  23 
Carburetor,  in  gas  engine,  184 
Carp<5ts,  ciirding  machine  (illus.),  170 

dyeing  the  yarn,  (illus.),  170 

examining  and  repairing  (illus.),  173 

how  yam  is  dyed,  170 

manufacture  of  (illus.),  169 

modem,  how  made,  169 

packing  for  shipment  (illus.),  173 

processes,  169-170-171,  173 

stamping  designs,  173 

view  of  factory  (illus.),  172 

weaving,  by  machine  (illus.),  171 

wool,  packing  machine  (illus.),  169 

wool  sorting,  170 
Cartridges,  invention  of,  48 

types  of  (illus.),  49 
Cave,  man  who  invented  ammunition,  40 
Cement,  alumina  in,  95 

amount  used  in  United  States,  95 

arch,  95 

bagging  (illus.),  99 

bridges,  95 

bucket  (illus.),  97 

burned  (illus.),  98 

calcined  (illus.),  98 

clay  in,  95 

crusher  (illus.),  97 

dams,  95 

fireproof,  95 

grinders  (illus.),  98 

industry,  95 

in  water,  95 

kiln  (illus.),  98 

lime  in,  95 

machine  (illus.),  97 

marl  in,  95 
miU  (illus.),  96-98 
mixing  (illus.),  99 
mortar,  99 
on  farms,  95 
origin,  95 
plastic,  95 


INDEX                                                       585 

Cement,  Portland,  95 

Cloth,  Burr  picker,  87 

powder  (illus.),  98 

chloride  of  aluminum  in  making,  98 

quarry  (illus.),  96 

EngHsh  cap  spinning  (illus.),  89 

reinforced,  95 

finished,  ready  for  market  (illus.),  90 

rock  (illus.),  95-97 

finish  perching  (illus.),  90 

sewers,  95 

fulling  (illus.),  90 

shale  in,  95 

how  made  from  wool,  85 

shovel  (illus.),  96 

how  made  perfect,  83 

sidewalks,  95 

how  woolen  is  dyed,  87 

sihca  in,  95 

mending  perching  (illus.),  88 

strength  of,  95 

napping,  89 

subways,  95 

piece  dyeing  (illus.),  90 

tunnels,  95 

ring  twisting  (illus.),  89 

walls,  95 

sulphuric  acid  solution  in  making,  87 

what  is  it,  95 

teasel,  89 

what  made  of,  95 

weaving  and  scouring  (illus.),  88 

what  used  for,  95 

web,  86 

weighing  (illus.),  99 

woolen  mule  spinning  (illus.),  89 

where  obtained  (illus.),  97 

worsted  carding  (illus.),  85 

Chalk,  where  it  comes  from,  18 

yam  inspecting  (illus.),  89 

Chattering,  why  do  my  teeth,  218 

Clothes,  cost  of  wool  in  a  suit  of,  83 

China-making,  blungers,  404 

of  wool,  80 

clay,  in  making  dishes,  405 

wool  in  one  suit  of,  83 

decorating  cups  (illus.),  404-406 

Coal,  anthracite,  257,  258 

dishes,  how  shaped,  405 

anthracite  seams  (illus.),  260 

glazing  plates  (illus.),  404 

breaker  (illus.),  257 

grinders  (illus.),  404 

cars  ready  to  go  to  surface,  (illus.)  260 

how  the  dishes  are  shaped,  405 

dangers  to  the  miners,  262 

molding  (illus.),  405 

electric  cap  lamp  (illus),  264 

pressing  water  from  clay  (illus),  405 

firedamp.  262 

pulverizing  materials,  404 

gas  illuminating  from,  299 

pulverizing  mill  (illus.),  404 

gases,  262 

saggers  (illus.),  406 

history  of  the  safety  lamp  (illus.),  263 

taking  the  dishes  from  kiln  (illus.),  406 

how  the  miners  loosen  the  coal  (illus.),  261 

Chinese,  probable  discovers  of  gun  powder 

44           how  the  slate  pickers  work  (illus),  259 

Chocolate,  broma,  what  it  is,  390 

lamp  which  saves  many  lives,  263 

cacao  beans  (illus.),  388 

man  who  invented  the  safety  lamp,  264 

cacao  pods,  (illus.),  391 

mine  workers  that  never  see  day  light,  258 

cacao  tree,  discovery  of,  388 

mules  and  their  drivers  (illus.),  258 

cocoa  butter,  390 

peat,  262 

cocoa  mill  (illus.),  390 

safety  lamp  and  firedamp,  262 

cocoa  roaster  (illus.),  390 

seams  (illus.),  260 

cocoa  shells,  390 

shaft  gate  (illus.),  260 

cracking  mill,  389 

slate  pickers  (illus.),  259 

cream  mixing  (illus.)  393 

soft,  259 

difference  between  and  cacao,  394 

spiral  slate  pickers  (illus.),  259 

dipping  department,  394 

stable  underground  (illus.),  258 

finisher  (illus.),  392 

undercutting  with   compressed  air  ma- 

flaked cocoa,  392 

chines  (illus.),  261 

heating  machine  (illus.),  393 

undercutting  with  pick  (illus.),  261 

how  are  chocolate  candies  made?  394 

Cocoa,  see  Cacao 

how  made,  392 

Cocoon,  description  of,  115 

making,  393 

completed  (illus.),  116 

milk,  how  made,  394 

from  which  moths  have  emerged  (illus),  117 

mill  (illus.),  392 

how  silk  is  reeled  from,  118 

mixer  (illus.),  393 

moths  emerging  from  (illus.),  117 

shell  separator  (illus.),  389 

number  required  to  one  pound  of  silk,  117 

what  cocoa  butter  is,  390 

silkworm  beginning  of  (illus.),  116 

wrapping  individual,  394 

silkworm,  preparing  for    making  of  (illus.), 

Cigars,  how  they  are  made,  517 

116 

Clay,  what  is,  495 

Coins,  gold,  266 

Circles,  tendency  to  walk  in,  91 

in  glass  of  water,  38 

Clinking  gla.sses,  how  it  originated?  232 

silver,  266 

Clock,  age  of,  319 

Cohesion,  definition  of,  219,  220 

largest  in  the  world  (illus.),  321 

Cold,  wliy  some  things  arc,  144 

machinery  which  runs  a  hig'dlhis.),  322 

Color,  oxpf).sed  to  light  rays,  36 

in  Independence  Hall  filhis.),  323 

in  i)aint,  229 

in  New  York  City  Hall,  323 

what  it  is,  123 

Cloth,  beaming  (ilhis.),  89 

Colors,  difTercnt  in  birds'  eggs,  233 

Hurline  (illus.),  88 

in  sunset,  cause  of,  253 

586 


INDEX 


Color,  of  rainbow,  253 

red,  why  it  makes  a  bvtll  angry,  490 
Columbus,  lirought  first  sheep  to  America,  80 
Comb  honey,  development  of  (illus.),  529 
Compounds,  compared  with  elements,  349 
Compressed  air,  method  in  buiUling  tunnels, 

21 1 
Concrete,  buildings  (illus.),  100 

constniction  (illus.).  100 

decay,  loi 

engineering,  102 

forms  (illus.),  100 

houses  (illus.),  loi 

loads   (illus.),  100 

mold,  101 

ornamental  (illus.),  100 

practical  uses  of  (illus.),  100 

rusting,  lOO 

Silo  (illus.),  102 

stable  (illus.),  102 

sun  dial  (illus.),  loi 

tensile  strain,  104 

tower  (illus.),  102 

walls  (illus.),  100 

water  tower  (illus.),  102 

what  it  is,  95 

wood,  102 
Confucius,  philosophy  written  with  brush,  13 
Cooking,  when  first  used,  308 
Copper,  as  a  conductor  of  electricity,  267 

wire,  telegraph,  266 
Com  plant,  how  pollen  fertilizes,  170 

wliy  it  has  silk,  176 
Corn  Silk,  what.it  is  for,  176 

baling  presses  (illus.),  476 
Cotton,  drawing  frames  (illus.),  472 

slashers  (illus),  475 

spinning  frames  (iUus.),  473 

warping  machine  (illus.),  474 

what  nation  produces  the  most,  477 

how  much   cloth   will   a   pound   of  cotton 
make,  477 

mill  (illus.),  471 

cloth,  first  steps  in  making,  472 

putting  fiber  on  bobbins  (illus.),  473 

cloth  finished  (illus.),  476 

who  discovered,  477 

weave  room,  475 

w^here  it  comes  from,  470 

lapper  machines,  471 

card  room  (illus),  472 

bobbins  (illus.),  473 

dye-house  (illus.),  474 

beaming  frames  (illus.),  475 

inspecting  tables  (illus),  476 

field  a  southern  (illus),  470 

breaker  machines  (illus.),  471 

slubber  machines  (iUus.),  472 

speeders  (illus.),  473 

spooling  machine  (illus.),  474 

shipping  (illus.),  476 

w^hat  used  for,  477 

cloths,  what  are  the  principle,  477 
Counting,  man,  himself,  19 

in  tens,  19 

in  twelves,  20 
Crying,  what  makes  us,  195 

when  hurt,  w^hy  we,  93 
Cross-bow,  invention  of,  44 
Crude  rubber,  how  treated,  378 


Culverines,  early  type  of,  45 
Cylinder  in  gas  engine  (illus),  184 
Darkness,  cats  can  see  in,  91 

some  animals  can  see  in,  91 

why  wc  cannot  see  in,  91 

why  we  fear,  352 
Deep    sea    diving,    the    telephone    adjusting 

(illus.),  202 

coming  up  (illus.),  204 

cost  of  outfit,  203 

helmet,  putting  on  (illus.),  202 

just  before  going  down  (ilhis.),  204 

outfit,  202 

shoes,  putting  on  (illus.),  202 

suit,  putting  on  (illus.),  202 

telephoning  from  bottom,  203 

telephone,  testing  the  (illus.),  203 

testing,  final  (illus.),  203 

water  pressure  at  varjnng  depths,  203 

wealth  recovered  by  diving,  204 

weight  of  outfit,  203 
Deer-stalking  with  the  cross-bow  (illus.),  42 
Detonators,  in  firearms,  47 
Developer,  Pyro,  in  photography,  23 
Diamonds,  what  made  of,  351 
Did  candles  come  before  lamps?  294 
Die,  why  do  we  have  to,  245 
Difference  in  woolens  and  worsteds,  84 
Dimples,  what  causes,  352 
Discovery  of  gunpowder,  44 
Discovery  of  stringed  musical  instruments,  479 

telephone,  71 
Diver's  task  made  easy  (illus.),  284 
Diving,  deep-sea,    the    telephone    adjusting, 

(illus.),  202 

cost  of  outfit,  203 

hats  of  divers,  204 

just  before  going  down  (illus.),  204 

helmet,  putting  on  (illus.),  202 

shoes,  putting  on  (illus.),  202 

suit,  putting  on  the  (illus.),  202 

suit,  what  consists  of,  202 

telephone  from  bottom,  203 

telephoning,  testing  the  (illus.),  203 

testing  final  (illus),  203 

water  pressure  at  varying  depths,  203 

wealth  recovered  by  diving,  204 

weight  of  outfit,  203 
Dixie,  what  name  means,  124 

W'hcre  name  originated,  123 
Does  air  weigh  anything,  398 
Does  the  air  surrounding  the  earth  move  with 

it?  400 
Does  thunder  sour  milk,  196 
Does  light  weigh  anything?  37 
Does  the  sun  revolve  on  its  axis?  511 
Do  father  and  mother  plants  always  live  to- 
gether? 176 
Do  the  ends  of  the  rainbow  rest  on  land?  254 
Do  the  stars  really  shoot  down?  255 
Dog,  why  he  turns  round  before  lying  down,  229 
Dolls,  why  girls  like,  368 
Dom   Pedro,  Emperor   of   Brazil,  who  saved 

the  telephone,  73 
Do  plants  breathe?  241 
Draft,  created  by  chimney,  37 
Dreams,  cause  of,'366 

nightmare,  367 

what  makes  us?  366 
Drinking,  origin  of  clinking  glasses,  232 


INDEX                                                         587 

Driving  shield,  airlock  bulkhead  (illus.),  210 

Eyes,  sparkle  when  merry,  why,  92 

erector  (illus.),  210 

why  we  can't  sleep  when  open,  92 

in  tunnel  building  (illus.),  208 

why  we  see  stars  when  hit  on,  268 

inventor  of,  209 

Eye-wash,  tears  as  an,  38 

tunnels,  front  view  (illus.),  209 

Fabrics,  worsted,  85 

Ducks,  why  water  runs  off  backs  of,  233 

Fahrenheit,  what  is  meant  by,  221 

Dust,  in  air,  38 

why  so  called,  221 

what  it  is,  104 

Fastest  camera  in  the  world,  25 

Dyeing,  silk,  121 

Fathers  and  Mothers,  do  plants  have,  175 

Earache,  what  causes,  410 

Federal  Government,  grazing  fee  paid  to,  82 

Earth,  how  big  it  is,  124 

Fertilization,  in  birds,  179 

light  surrounding,  38 

how  corn  plant  fertilizes,  176 

Echo,  what  makes  an,  200 

of  fishes,  177 

whispering  gallery,  201 

Fight,  of  Merrimac  and  Monitor,  32 

Eggs,  birds  why  different  colors,  233 

Film,  before  and  after  snapshot,  23 

silkworm,  how  imported,  iii 

sensitive,  23 

Egyptians,  how  ancients  wrote,  12 

Finger  prints,  arch,  (illus.),  520 

Electric  arc,  temperature  of,  35 

composite  (illus.),  521 

Electric  current,  what  it  is,  334 

of  different  people,  521 

Electricity,  conductors  of,  331 

enlargements  of,  524 

current,  334 

how  they  identify  us,  520 

good  conductors,  331 

impressions  of  orang-outang  (illus.),  522 

how  discovered,  333 

loop  (illus.),  520 

non-conductors,  331 

palmary  impressions  (illus.),  522 

what  is,  329 

speciman  form  of,  record  (illus.),  525 

Electric  lighting,  arc-hght,  307 

spike  that  caught  a  criminal  (illus.),  524 

Edison's  first  lamp  (illus.),  306 

thieves  caught  through  their,  523 

incandescent  carbon  lamp  (illus.),  306 

thumb  imprint  on  bottle  (illus.),  523 

Mazda  lamp  (illus),  306 

thumb     impression    on    cash    box     (illus.), 

tantalum  lamp  (illus.),  306 

523 

Tungsten  metal  lamps,  305 

thumb  mark  on  a  candle  (dlus.),  523 

when  introduced,  305 

where  first  used,  522 

Elements,  carbon,  352 

whorl  (illus.),  521 

compared  with  compounds,  349 

Fingers,  why  they  hurt  when  cut,  143 

hydrogen,  349 

why  we  have  ten,  142 

nitrogen,  350 

Finger  nails,  why  we  have,  142 

oxygen,  349 

Fire,  alarms  when  first  used,  308 

what  an  is,  349 

first  apparatus  to  fight,  308 

Elevator,  description  of  (illus.),  397 

first  fire  department,  308 

installation  (illus.),  396 

first  real,  fire  engine,  308 

principal  parts  of,  396 

gases  put  out,  37 

why  does  not  the  car  fall?  397 

how  man  discovered,  289 

Emperor,  saved  the  telephone,  73 

how  man  learned  to  fight,  208 

Emperor  of  Brazil,  receives  first  message  over 

how  man  learned  to  make  a,  289 

first  telephone,  74 

mark,  of  civilization,  290 

Engine,  gas  (illus.),  181-182 

why  it  goes  out,  37 

carburetor,  184 

why  is  it  hot?  401 

cyHnder  (illus.),  184 

why  put  out  by  water,  222 

horse-power,  of,  256 

Fire  making,  drilling  (illus.),  289 

Exchange,  first  telephone,  75 

drilling  with  bow  string  (ilhis.),  290 

Exhibition,  of  first  telephone  at  Centennial,  74 

drilling,  two  persons  (illus.),  290 

Experiments,  with  mirror  resultant  in  photo- 

first matches  (illus.),  292 

graph,  22 

flint  and  pyrites  (illus.)  290 

Exploding,  a  submarine  mine,  34 

flint,  introduction  of  (illus.),  291 

Explosions,  how  they  break  windows,  62 

plowing  (illus.),  290 

in  gas  engines  (illus.),  182 

pyrites  (illus),  290 

of  sulimarinc  mines  (illus.),  34 

rubbing  sticks  together,  42 

wliat  happens  in,  205 

sawing  (illus.),  289 

Explosives,  definition  of,  205 

steal  and  Hint  (illus),  291 

blasting  gelatin,  206 

tinder  box  (illus.),  291 

gun-cotton,  206 

tinder  box,  pistol  (illus.),  291 

nitroglycerine,  206 

with  matches,  292                   ^ 

Eye,  of  a  submarine  (illus.),  274 

Firedamp,  262 

Eyes,  closed,  walking  with,  91 

('xi)](ision  in  safety  lamp,  262 

hand  quicker  than,  376 

Firearms,  first  cnjdc  efforts  of,  45 

help  brain  in  walking,  91 

first,  rc'.il  (illus.),  45 

in  some  pictures  follow  you,  why,  36 

fuse  of,  45 

ke(;i>ing  body  balanced,  91 

in  early  Chinese  history,  44 

nature's  way  of  protecting,  38 

first  trigger  of,  45 

jjrotccting  with  tears,  38 

Firing,  mortar,  causes  gas-rings,  27 

588                                                        INDEX 

First  man-carrying  aeroplane,  128 

Gas,  illuminating,  Baltimore  first  city  to  use, 

real  telegraph,  421 

302 

stringed  musical  instrument,  480 

carbon  in,  302 

telephone  (illus.),  72 

discovered,  when,  302 

tel(.'i)hone  line,  72 

first  American  house  to  use,  302 

telephone  switchboard  (illus.),  74 

first  practical  demonstration  of,  302 

Fishes,  how  they  are  born,  177 

generator  house  (illus.),  299 

how  they  come  to  life,  177 

holder  (illus.),  298 

motion  in  swimming,  233 

how  it  gets  into  jet,  302 

what  the  eggs  are,  177 

how  it  is  purified,  303 

Why  they  cannot  hve  in  air,  232 

how  made,  303 

Flag,  made,  how  was  American,  310 

how  the  meter  works,  304 

made,  when  was  American?  310 

hydrogen  in,  302 

Flash  pan,  early  type,  45 

impurities  removed  from  (illus.),  301 

Flaxseed  oil,  what  it  is,  227 

jet,  the  story  in  a,  303 

Flight,  i)f  projectile,  long,  30 

made  of,  302 

Flint-lock,  invented  in  seventeenth  century,  46 

meter,  description,  304 

invented  by  thieves,  46 

purifying  boxes  (Illus.),  301 

still  in  use  in  Orient,  46 

removing  tar  from,  300 

Floor,  sounds  through  a,  79 

shaving  scrubl)crs  (illus),  300 

Flour,  bolters  (illus.),  465 

GasoUne  engine  (illus.),  181,  182 

how  made,  462 

Gases,  generated  at  gun  muzzle,  27 

purifying  machine  (illus.),  463 

how  expelled  in  gun  ingot,  55 

sieves,  465 

hydrogen,  349 

Flowers,  why  they  have  smells,  176 

nitrogen,  350 

Flying,  how  birds  learn,  178 

oxygen,  349 

boat,  wonderful  (illus.),  133 

tendency  to  put  out  fire,  37 

first  Langley  monoplane,  126 

Gas-rings,  in  firing  motor,  27 

first  successful  aeroplane  (illus.),  126 

GatUng,  inventor  of  guns,  310 

machine,  first  models,  127 

Gelatine,  in  photography,  23 

some  of  the  men  who  helped,  126 

Gestures,  talking  by,  18 

ten  years  of  (illus.),  137 

Ghosts,  what  are  they?  367 

Flying  boat,  fun  in  (illus.),  135 

Glad,  why  do  we  laugh  when,  92 

gliding  by,  137 

Glass,  why  it  cracks,  63 

Flying  boot,  interior  arrangement  (illus.),  134 

how  long  known,  247 

monoplane  type  (illus.),  135 

Glass,  plate,  casting  (illus.),  249 

six-passenger  hull  (illus.),  134 

commercial,  246 

speed  of  (Ulus.),  135 

plate  and  window  glass  compared   (illus.), 

the  wonderful,  133 

252 

views  of  (illus.),  133 

Glass,  plate,  making,  annealing,  oven,  249 

Flying  machines,  126 

beveling,  247 

Bleriol  flew  in  Europe  (illus.),  129 

blanketing,  252 

Curtis  biplane  in  flight  (illus.),  136 

clay  mixing  (illus.),  248 

Dr.  Langley 's  flying  (illus.),  127 

clay  trampling  (illus.),  248 

early  types  of,  127 

clay  used,  247 

first  demonstrations,  130 

grinding  table,  250 

first  flight  in  Europe  with,  129 

materials  used  in,  247 

first  man-carrying  aeroplane,  128 

mercury,  253 

first  models,  127 

nitrate  of  silver,  253 

flying  boat,  133 

pots  (illus.),  248 

flying  boat,  exterior  arrangement,  134 

pots,  drying  of,  248 

gliding  experiments,  137 

pots,  length  of  usefulness,  248 

Government  interest  in,  138 

silvering,  247 

hull  of  flying  boat,  134 

skimming  the  pot  (illus.),  249 

interesting  governments  in,  138 

treading,  247 

Wright  Bros.,  first  flights,  130 

Glow-worm,  why  does  it  glow?  231 

Focus,  in  eye,  22 

Gold,  why  is  it  called  precious?  266 

Fog,  T^hat  it  is,  105 

Gong,    why   does   it   stop    when   it   has    been 

Food,  how  we  learned  to  cook,  308 

scunded,  78 

Foreign  monoplanes,   some   famous    (illus.). 

Good  luck,  why  a  horseshoe  brings?  311 

132 

Graphite  in  lead  pencils,  468 

Forsythe,  LL.D.  J.,   inventor  of  the  primer  47 

Gravitation,  what  is,  267 

Freckles,  w-hat  makes  them  come,  125 

Gravity,  center  of,  in  gun,  61 

Fuse,  for  firearms  in  early  history,  45 

Gravity,  force  of,  61 

Funditor,  42 

Greek  fre,  in  early  history,  44 

Gas,  acetylene,  305 

Growing,  why  do  we  stop,  195 

definition,  348 

Gun,  action  at  muzzle,  27 

first  structure  to  be  lighted  by,  302 

annealing  a  gun  ingot,  57 

in  coal  mines,  262 

assembling  of,  48-54 

water,  305 

arquebus  of,  1537,  47 

INDEX 

589 

Gun,  barrels,  erosin  of,  35 

Honey,  finished  product  (illus.),  533 

blow-holes,  56 

frame  (illus.),  535 

bore  searcher,  59 

how  to  bump  the  bees  off  a  comb  (illus) , 

533 

breech  of  a,  53 

bee-hat  (illus.),  535 

discharges,  force  of,  33 

a  study  in  cell-making  (illus.),  532 

calibre  of  a,  53 

bee  sting,  can  a  536, 

elastic  Umit,  58 

frame  of  bees  (illus.),  535 

elongation,  58 

comb,  how  bees  build,  536 

forging  a  (illus.),  52 

Honey-bee,  poison-bag,  537 

heat  treatment,  58 

egg  of  queen,  under  microscope  (illus.) 

529 

hoops  of  a,  54 

Dreparing  for  rearing,  531 

improvements  in,  45 

iving  on  combs  in  open  air,  (illus.), 52 7 

ingot,  calibre  of,  55 

the  daily  growth  of  larvae  (iUus.),  532 

jacket  of,  54 

effect  of  a  sting  (illus.),  536 

length  of  a,  53 

worker-bee  (illus.),  527 

liner  of,  54 

what  the  queen-bee  does?,  528 

Ufe  of,  35 

drone-comb  (illus.),  532 

manufacture  in  America,  48 

clipping  queen  bees  wings  (illus.),  533 

measuring  inside  diameter  (illus.),  59 

cucumber  blossom  with  bee  on  it  (illus.) 

,528 

modern  built-up  (illus.),  54 

queen-bee  (illus.),  527 

mold  for  ingot,  55 

the  queen  and  her  retinue  (illus.),  529 

muzzle  of,  53 

queen-rearing,  531 

pressure  generated  in  a  big  gun,  54 

queen-cells  (illus.),  529 

photography  (illus.),  33 

Honeymoon,  why  do  they  call  it  a?  311 

J 

piping,  56 

Horizon,  how  far  away  is  the,  245 

powder  chamber  of  a,  53 

what  is  it,  244 

rifling  (illus.),  60 

where  is  it,  244 

rifling  of,  53 

Horse-power,  a,  what  it  is,  256 

shrinking  pit,  59 

Horseshoes,    why   it   is   said    to   bring 

good 

tensile  strength  of,  58 

luck?  311 

factory,  testing  materials,  (iUus.)  50 

Hot  box,  cause  of,  368 

tube  of,  54 

Houiller,  French  gunsmith,  48 

tube,  how  it  is  tempered,  57 

Houses,  concrete  (illus.),  loi 

why  called  gatling,  310 

How  far  does  the  air  extend?  243 

wire- wound,  54 

is  ammunition  made  (illus.)?  49 

Gxin-barrels,  imported  from  England,  49 

does  an  arc  light  bum?  307 

resisting  pressure  of,  34 

are  automobile  tires  made?  382 

Gun-cotton,  in  smokeless  powder,  35,  206 

does  a  honey  bee  live?  336 

Gunpowder,  Chinese  probable  discovers  of,  44 

does  a  bee  make  honey?  527 

discoverer  of,  44 

do  bees  build  the  honey  comb?  536 

experiments  by  Schwartz,  45 

does  the  honey  bee  defend  itself?  536 

formula  of  Roger  Bacon,  45 

does  honey  develop  in  a  comb  (illus.)? 

530 

ingredients  in,  205 

do  birds  learn  to  fiy?  178 

manufactured  in  monasteries,  44 

do  birds  find  their  way?  407 

what  causes  the  smoke?  206 

does  the  blotter  take  up  the  ink  of  a  blot 

?  18 

smokeless,  what  made  of,  206 

this  book  is  bound,  578 

why  some  is  fine  and  others  large  grained, 

this  book  is  made,  561  _ 

206 

the  paper  in  this  book  is  made,  561 

Gurgle,  in  bottles,  63 

the  pictures  in  this  both  are  made,  581 

Hail,  what  causes,  124 

are  bullets  made?  51 

Hair,  what  causes  baldness,  143 

is  an  ocean  cable  laid?  429 

why  it  don't  hurt  when  cut,  143 

does  a  camera  take  a  picture,  22? 

why  it  keeps  growing,  144 

is  a  cable  dropped  into  the  ocean  (illus.) 

M32 

Hand  bombards,  early  types,  45 

are  modem  carpets  made?  169 

Hands,  shaking,  why  with  the  right,  231 

is  a  carpet  woven  by  machinery?  171 

Hansom,  why  so  called,  122 

is  china  decorated?  406 

Have  plants  fathers  and  mothers?   1 75 

is  china  made?  404 

Heart,  why  beats  during  sleep,  191 

is  chocolate  made?  392 

why  beats  faster  when  scared,  191 

did  the  custom  of  clinking  glasses  in  drinking    | 

why  beats  faster  when  running,  191 

originate?  232 

Heat,  light  wave  changed  into,  36 

are  cigars  made?  517 

why  a  nail  gets  hot  when  hammered,  230 

is  cloth  made  from  wool?  86 

why  some  things  are  warm,  144 

did  the  coal  get  into  the  coal  mines?  257 

how  we  obtain,  231 

does  a  coal  mine  look  inside?  260 

Hemp,  Manilla  (illus.),  356 

do  the  cocoa  beans  grow  (illus.)?  391 

Hobson's  choice,  how  originated,  311 

is  the  color  put  on  the  outside  of  the  po 

ucil? 

Honey,  apiary  in  summer  (illus.),  534 

469                              ,  , 

how  profluced,  527 

is  the  honey  comb  made?  532 

worker  comb  (illus.),  532 

are  concrete  roads  built  (illus)  ?  103 

manner  of  using  German  bee-brush,  533 

did  man  learn  to  cook  his  food?  308 

590 


INDEX 


How  are  concrete  buildings  made  (illus.)?  loo 
is  woolen  cloth  dyed?  87 
big  is  the  earth?  124 
much  of  the  earth  does  the  sun  shine  on  at 

one  time?  324 
does  an  elevator  go  up  and  down  (illus.)  ?  396 
was  electricity  discovered?  333 
does  the  Hght  get  into  the  electric  bulb?  305 
is  the  eraser  put  on  a  pencil?  469 
can  an  explosion  break  windows?  62 
explosions  may  occur  on  submarines,  278 
does  the  farmer  use  concrete  (illus.)?  102 
do  our  finger  prints  indentify  us?  520 
did  man  learn  to  fight  fire?  308 
did  man  learn  to  make  a  fire?  289 
are  fishes  born?  177 
was  the  flag  made?  310 
is  flour  made?  462 
does  a  fly  walk  upside  down?  454 
did  men  learn  to  fly?  126 
does  the  gas  get  into  the  gas  jet?  302 
is  illuminating  gas  made?  303 
is  gas  purified?  303 
is  plate  glass  made?  246 
is  plate  glass  ground?  250 
a  wire- wound  gun  is  made?  54 
was  the  first  American  gun  made  (illus.)?  47 
is  a  gun  ingot  made?  55 
do  we  find  the  length  of  a  gun?  53 
is  a  gun  tube  tempered?  57 
do  we  obtain  heat?  231 
the  heel  of  a  shoe  is  put  on  (illus.),  560 
did  Hobson's  choice  originate?  311 
far  away  is  the  horizon?  245 
does  a  key  turn  a  lock  (illus.)?  491 
does  a  spring  lock  work  (illus.)  ?  492 
are  lead  pencils  made?  467 
do  the  miners  loosen  the  coal?  261 
is  hght  produced,  230 
are  magnets  made?  335 
are  matches  made?  293 
are  match  boxes  made?  294 
did  man  learn  to  send  messages?  412 
does  the  meter  measure  the  gas?  304 
can  microbes  spread  through  the  body?  410 
are  mirrors  silvered?  522 
big  is  a  molecule?  348 
did  money  originate?  455 
are  moving  pictures  made?  369 
does  the  music  get  into  the  piano?  478-482 
did  the  word  news  originate ?  312 
did  a  nod  come  to  mean  yes?  19 
did  shaking  the  head  come  to  come  no?  19 
are  paints  mixed?  228 
is  a  photograph  developed?  23 
was  the  piano  discovered?  479 
do  plants  breathe?  241 
do  plants  reproduce  life?  175 
does  the  shield  cut  through  the  ground  in 

tunnel  building?  212 
are  shooting  shells  photographed?  24 
shoes  are  made  by  machinery,  549 
shoe  machinery  was  developed,  457 
is  crude  rubber  secured?  377 
is  rope  turned  and  twisted?  358 
are  rubber  tires  made?  378 
are  modem  rugs  made?  169 
to  spUce  a  rope,  364 
do  men  go  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea? 

202 


How  did  the  sand  get  on  the  seashore?  108 
far  back  does  the  silkworm  date?  109 
was  silk  introduced  into  Europe?  no 
are  the  silkworms  cared  for?  1 13 
do  we  know  a  thing  is  solid,  liquid  or  gas?  348 
are  sounds  produced?  485 
fast  does  sound  travel?  486 
can  sound  come  through  a  thick  wall?  79 
is  the  volume  of  sound  measured?  242 
far  does  space  reach?  256 
do  the  slate  pickers  work?  259 
does  a  captain  steer  his  ship  across  the  ocean? 

407 
can  a  ship  sail  under  water,  269 
is  a  submarine  submerged?  270 
do  sponges  grow?  286 
do  sponges  eat?  287 
are  sponges  caught?  287 
are  the  stars  counted?  241 
big  is  the  sun?  141 
hot  is  the  sun?  141 
is  a  steel  pen  made  (illus.),  17 
did  man  learn  to  shoot,  40 
do  we  get  wool  oflF  the  sheep?  82 
is  a  stone  thrown  with  a  sling?  41 
are   metallic   and    paper   shells   filled   with 

powder?  50 
did  man  learn  to  talk?  18 
did  the  telephone  come  to  be?  70 
fast  does  thought  travel?  242 
does  a  telegram  get  there?  414 
did  man  learn  to  tell  time?  313 
did  man  begin  to  measure  time?  314 
did  men  tell  time  when  the  sun  cast  no 

shadows?  317 
is  the  time  calculated  at  sea?  315 
is  tobacco  cultivated?  516 
is  tobacco  cured?  516 
was  tobacco  discovered?  512 
is  tobacco  harvested?  515 
is  tobacco  planted?  514 
is  a  tunnel  dug  under  water?  208 
does  water  put  fire  out?  222 
is  white  lead  made?  225 
are  wires  put  under  ground?  76 
did  writing  first  come  about?  il 
did  the  Chinese  write?  13 
did  the  Monks  do  their  writing?  14 
does  a  pen  write?  18 
does  does  the  wool  in  a  suit  of  clothes  cost? 

much  wool  does  America  produce?  82 

is  wool  taken  from  the  sheep?  82 

is  the  yarn  for  carpets  dyed?  170 

is  oxide  of  zinc  obtained?  226 

does  the  water  get  into  the  faucet?  501 

are  the  big  water  pipes  laid?  504 

did  the  name  Uncle  Sam  originate?  458 

Hvunan  body,  wonders  of  the,  311 

Hunting,  with  the  bow-and-arrow,  43 

Hurt,  why  we  cry 

Hydrogen,  what  it  is,  349 

Hypo,  used  in  developing,  23 

Impact,  of  projectile  from  guns,  28 

Ink,  how  does  a  blotter  take  up?  18 

Instruments,  artillery,  testing,  24 
musical,  488 
optical,  based  on  refraction,  38 

Incandescent  lamp,  development  of,  306 

Inside  of  a  mine  planting  submarine  (illus),  277 


INDEX                                                       591 

Iron,  cast,  265 

Light,  what  makes  match,  198 

melts  at,  35 

in  mirror,  22 

the  most  valuable  metal,  265 

in  negative,  23 

wrought,  265 

rays,  36,  495 

Is  a  moth  attracted  by  a  light?  288 

broken  rays  of,  38 

man  an  animal?  180  , 

rays,  heat  from,  36 

the  hand  quicker  than  the  eye?  376 

and  refraction,  38 

there  a  reason  for  everything?  200 

speed  of,  36,  140 

there  a  man  in  the  moon?  400 

travels  faster  than  anything  in  the  world,  36 

yawning  infectious  ?_  192 

surrounding  earth,  38 

Jacket,  of  a  gun,  54 

wave  changed  into  heat,  36 

Japan   the   natural   home   of    the   silk    worm 

Lighting,  arc,  how  does  it  burn,  307 

(illus),  112 

in  America,  first  street  (illus),  296 

Kentucky  rifles,  45 

first  oil  lantern,  297 

Key,  how  it  works  in  a  lock  (illus.),  491 

electric,  when  introduced,  305 

Knots,  different  kinds  of  (illus.),  363 

first  steeet  light  in  Paris,,  297 

what  makes,  in  boards,  223 

gas  tank,  (illus.),  298 

Lambs,  Siberian,  in  South  Dakota  (illus.),  80 

Lightning,  why  it  follows  thunder,  140 

Lamps,  first  street  light  in  America,  296 

Lightning  bugs,  why  they  produce  light,  231 

the  Clanny  safety,  264 

Lignite,  found  in  coal  mines,  262 

did  candles  come  before?  294 

Liner,  of  a  gun,  54 

earliest  forms  of,  295 

Linseed  oil,  extraction  of,  228 

Edison's  first  (illus.) ,  306 

what  it  is,  227 

incandescent  carbon  (illus.),  306 

where  it  comes  from,  227 

incandescent,  development  of,  306 

Liquid,  definition,  348 

incandescent,  electric,  when  invented,  305 

Living,  why  do  some  people  live  longer,  199 

French  watch  tower  (illus.),  295 

reproduction  necessary  why,  174 

Mazda  (illus.),  306 

reproduction  of,  in  birds,  179 

from  Nashagak  hanging  (illus.),  297 

reproduction  of,  in  fishes,  177 

Pagan  votive  (illus),  296 

Loading  machines  in  powder  factory,  50 

Tantalum  (illus.),  306 

Lobsters,  red,  what  makes  them,  245 

street,  when  first  used,  295 

Lock,  cylinder  (illus.),  492 

chimney  protects  flame,  37 

how  a  key  turns  a  (illus.),  491 

coal  miners  and  safety,  262 

how  key  changes  are  provided  (illus.),  491 

Lamp  chimney,  why  it  makes  a  better  light,  37 

how  a  spring  lock  works  (illus.),  492 

Langley,  Dr.  Samuel  P.,    19 14  flight  of  aero- 

master-keyed cylinder  (illus.),  492 

plane,  128 

what    happens    when    the    key    is    turned? 

Languages,  why  so  many,  197 

(illus.),  491 

Lantern,  the  first  oil  (illus.),  297 

what  happens  when   the  knob   is   turned? 

the  "  Reverbere  "  (illus.),  297 

(illus.),  491 

Laugh,  when  glad,  why  we,  92 

Locomotives,  boiler  of  articulate  type  (illus.), 

nerves,  93 

440 

when  tickled,  why  we,  93 

boiler  of  (illus.),  442 

Laughter,  reflex  action,  93 

cab  of  (illus.),  442 

Lead,  as  used  in  making  paint,  267 

cylinders  description  of,  441 

in  a  pencil,  468 

low  pressure  cylinders  of  (illus.),  441 

why  so  heavy,  267 

electric,  newest  (illus.),  443 

as  used  in  pipes  for  plumbing,  267 

one  of  the  largest  (illus.),  440  ' 

Leather,  how  the  hides  are  treated,  539 

signal  tower,  latest  (illus.),  444 

treatment  of  hides,  538 

stoker,  automatic  (illus.),  443 

unhairing  machine  (illus.),    540 

water  tank  (illus),  444 

hide  house  (illus.),  538 

Lodestone,  what  it  is,  327 

tanning  process,  539 

"Long  Bow,"  in  Sherwood  Forest  (illus.),  42 

rolling  room  (illus.),  539 

Loom,  cloth  making  machine,  86 

tanning  sole  leather,  539 

Magnet,  breaking  iron  (illus.),  330 

how  upper  leather  is  tanned  (illus.),  540 

electro  (illus.),  326,  328,  335 

disposing  of  waste  material,  540 

electric  lift  (illus.),  326 

wringers,  539 

experiments  with,  327 

tan  yard  (illus.),  539 

great  lifting  by  (illus),  330 

Legs,  not  same  length,  91 

how  made,  335 

.Lens,  in  the  eye,  22 

what  makes  it  lift  things?  326 

Leyden  jar,  what  it  is,  332 

wonders  jjcrformcd  by,  326 

Life,  bc;,'inning  of,  174 

work  it  can  df)  (illus.),  328 

beginning  of  man's,  174 

Man,    writing,  how  man  learned,  11 

how  plants  reproduce,  175 

covinting  himsi'lf,  19 

Light,  attracting  moths,  288 

is  he  an  animal?   180 

glow-worms  why  they  glow?  231 

Matches,  are  they  poisonous?  294 

how  produced,  230 

first,  292 

lightning  bugs,  made  by,  231 

how  made,  293 

where  it  goes  when  it  goes  out,  36 

luc-ifcT  (illus.),  292 

592                                                         INDEX 

Matches,  making  by  machinery,  293 

Mountains,  what  made  them,  401 

modern  safety  (illus.),  292 

Moving  pictures,  Board  of  Censors,  373 

oxymuriate  (illus.),  292 

developing  room  (illus.)  372 

promethean  (illus.),  292 

drying  room  (illus.),  373 

what  we  would  do  without,  292 

continuous  movement  of  film,  376 

when  first  used  (illus.),  292 

exact  size  of  film,  370 

Match-lock,  of  early  firearms,  45 

first  camera,  375 

Melting  of  iron,  35 

first  exhibited  at  studio,  372 

Men  who  made  the  telephone,  70 

how  made,  369 

Mercury,  fulminate  of,  49 

how  freak  pictures  are  made,  376 

Merrimac  and  Monitor,  fight  of,  32 

negative,  stock,  370 

Merry,  why  eyes  sparkle  when,  92 

negative,  perforated,  370 

Messages,  how  men  learned  to  send,  412 

"  Pigs  is  Pigs  "  (illus.),  374 

Indian  smoke  signals,  412 

rehearsing  (illus.),  371 

marathon  runner  by  (illus),  413 

scenario  (illus.),  374 

pony  telegraph  (illus.),  413 

staging,  371 

Messenger  boy,  how  to  call  a  (illus.).  414 

taking  a  (illus.),  373 

the  first  (illus.),  413 

Mulberry  trees,  food  for  silk  worms  (illus),  112 

Metal,  what  is  a,  265 

Mules  and  drivers  (illus),  258 

what  is  the  most  valuable?  265 

Multiple  switchboard  of  telephone,  69 

why  we  use  for  coining,  456 

Music,  harp,  479 

Meter,  description  of  gas,  304 

lyre,  479 

how  it  measures  gas,  304 

note,  what  it  is,  490 

Milk,  does  thunder  sour?  196 

what  pitch  is,  489 

Milky  way,  why  is  it  called,  255 

what  is,  478 

what  is,  255 

Musical  talicing  machines,  490 

Mine  cars  (illus.),  260 

Muzzle,  of  a  big  gun,  53 

Mines,  clearing  channel  of  buoyant,  283 

Muzzle-loaders,  in  Civil  War,  47 

exploding  submarine,  34 

Nails,  wliy  they  get  hot  when  hammered,  230 

planting  submarine,  inside  of  (illus.),  277 

Names,  of  people,  20 

workers  that  never  see  daylight,  258 

Nature,  protecting  eyes,  ways  of,  38 

Mirror,  collects  rays  of  light,  22 

Navigating  on  bottom  of  sea,  283 

reflection  in,  22 

Negative  in  photography,  23 

reflects  rays  of  light,  22 

Nerves,  sensory,  receive  impression,  93 

Mirrors,  beveling  (illus.),  251 

transmitting  impression,  22 

how  made,  251 

News,  how  did  the  word  originate?  312 

how  silvered,  252 

Nightmare,  cause  of,  367 

polishing,  251 

Nitrogen,  what  it  is,  350 

roughing,  251 

Ocean,  why  is  it  blue?  219 

silvered  with  mercury,  253 

what  makes  it  green?  219 

silvering  mirror  plates  (illus.),  252 

why  don't  water  sink  in?  219 

Molectile,  how  big  is  a,  348 

where  did  all  the  water  in,  come  from?  218 

what  is  a,  348 

where  is  water  at  low  tide,  219 

Monasteries,  where  gunpowder  was  manufac- 

Of what  use  is  my  hair?  143 

tured,  44 

Of  what  use  are  pains  and  aches?  410 

Money,  how  originated,  455 

Oil  baths,  for  gun  (illus.),  57 

metallic  forms  of,  456 

Oil  cake,  from  hnseed,  228 

who  made  the  first  cent,  458 

Oil,  palm  ohve,  in  soap,  411 

who  originated,  455 

Omniscope,  of  submarine  boat,  271 

why  do  we  need,  455 

Onions,  make  tears,  38 

why  gold  and  silver  are  best  for  coining,  457 

bad  effect  of  on  eyes,  38 

Monitor  and  Merrimac,  fight  of,  32 

Operatives,  in  powder  factor>',  girls  as,  49 

Monks,  making  gunpowder,  44 

Optical  instruments,  based  on  refraction,  38 

Monoplane,  flying  boat  (illus.),  135 

Organic  matter,  what  it  is,  174 

German  (illus.),  132 

Origin  of  cement,  95 

over  Mediterranean  (illus.),  132 

of  counting  in  tens,  19 

Moon,  why  it  travels  with  us,  399 

names  of  people,  20 

the  man  in  the,  400 

of  nodding  to  indicate  yes,  19 

Morse,  S.  B.,  inventor  of  telegraph,  420 

of  shaking  head  to  indicate  no,  19 

Mortars  (illus.),  26 

of  turnpike,  104 

Mothers  and  Fathers,  do  plants  have,  175 

Oxide  of  zinc  smelter  (illus.),  227 

Moths,  attracted  by  light,  288 

how  obtained,  226 

emerging  from  cocoon  (illus.)  117 

Oxygen,  what  it  is,  349 

Motion  bodies,  swiftest  25 

in  air,  37 

Motion,  is  train  harder  to  stop  than  start?  223 

Pain,  of  what  use  is,  410 

of  fight,  140 

what  it  is,  244 

of  sound,  140 

Paint,  care  of,  story  in,  224 

perpetual,  61 

how  mixed,  228 

perpetual,  in  mechanics,  240 

uses  of,  224 

Motors,  gas,  used  in  aeroplanes,  130 

what  used  for,  224 

INDEX 


593 


Paint  manxifactixring,  colors,  what  makes  dif- 
ferent, 229 

buckles  before  corrosion  (illus.),  225 

buckles  afterjcorrosion  (illus.),  225 

buckles  placed  in  stacks  (illus.),  225 

buckles  taken  from  stacks  (illus.),  225 

first  step  in  making  (illus.),  224 

lead  buckles  making  (illus.),  224 

lead,  white,  how  made,  224-225 

lead  white  used  in,  224 

grinding  lead  in  oil  (illus.),  228 

washing  the  lead  (illus.),  226 

mixing,  228 

where  paints  are  mixed  (illus.),  228 

linseed  oil,  where  obtained,  227 

pressing  oil  from  flaxseed  (illus.),  228 

removing  oil  cake  from  press,  228 

sulphur  roasting  furnace  (illus.),  226 

zinc  smelter  (illus.),  227 

oxide  of  zinc,  how  made,  226 
Paper,  earliest  forms  of,  14 

sensitive  in  photography,  23 

shells,  inspection  of  (illus),  49 

papyrus,  the  first,  14 
Papjrrus,  invention  of,  14 
Patents,  of  original  telephone,  73 
Peat,  as  a  fuel,  262 
Pen,  first  metallic  (illus.),  15 

first  steel  (illus),  15 

first  metalHc  pen,  how  made,  15 

how  it  writes,  18 

invention  of  the,  15 
Pencils,  "  lead  "  where  from,  466 

eraser  is  put  on,  469 

making  description  of  (illus.),  467 

who  made  the  first?  466 
Periscope,  description  of,  275 

how  we  look  through  a  (illus.),  276 

mirror  of,  275 
Perpetual  motion,  nearest  approach  to,  240 

is  it  possible?  61 
Persian  rug,  antique  (illus.),  167 

how  made,  167 

imitation  (illus.),  167 

Kurdestan  (illus.),  167 

where  best  are  made,  167 
Photographs,  of  projectiles,  25 
Photography,  resultant  from  experiments  with 

mirror,  22 
Piano,  pitch,  489 

finishing  (illus.),  484 

why  not  more  than  seven  octaves,  480 

Dulcimer  (illus.),  479 

spinet  (illus.),  480-481 

note  what  it  is,  490 

sounding  board,  488 

tuning,  (illus.),  484 

building  case  around  (illus.),  483 

how  the  music  gets  into  the,  482 

clavichord  (illus.),  480 

instruments,  musical,  488 

strings,  fastening  on  (illus.),  482 

psaltery,  480 

sound  fxjx,  the  first,  479 

who  made  the  first,  478 

hammers  (illus.),  483 

action  regulation  (illus.),  484 

virginal  fillus.),  480-481 

first  (illus.),  478 

tuning  fork,  488 


Piano,  polishing  (illus.),  484 

sounding  board,  putting  on  the  (illus.),  482 

how  discovered,  479 

lyre,  479 

octave,  480 

harpsichord  (illus.),  480-481 
Pickers,  boy,  slate  (ilJus.),  259 
Pictures,  with  a  fast  camera,  39 

moving,  how  made,  369 

size  of  moving  film,  370 

never  seen  by  the  human  eye,  31 

taken  in  one  five-thousandth  of  a  second,  31 
Pin  money,  why  they  call  it?  231 

how  name  originated,  231 
Pistols,  invented  in  Pistola,  Italy,  46 
Plants,  com,  why  it  has  silk?  176 

do  father  and  mother  plants  live  together,  1 76 

how  they  eat,  511 

how  they  reproduce,  175 

why  do  flowers  have  smells?  176 

why  they  produce  leaves,  175 
Plate  glass,  (illus.),  246 
Portland  Cement,  why  called,  95 
Powder,  filling  shells,  50 

gun-cotton  in  smokeless,  35 

secret  of  smokeless  powder,  35 

smokeless,  35 

in  submarine  mines,  amoimt  of,  34 
Pressure,  generated  in  bore  of  a  big  gun,  54 

inside  of  a  gun  at  discharge,  33 

in  gun-barrel,  resistance  of,  34 

of  Ught,  on  scales,  37 
Primer,  invented  by,  47 
Prof.  Bell's  vibrating  reed  (illus.),  71 
Projectiles,  photographs  of,  25 

arrival  at  target,  24 

clear  of  smoke-zone  (illus),  30 

smoke- zone,  emerging  from  (illus.),  29 

height  in  air  from  mortar,  30 

impact  of,  from  guns,  28 

leaving  gun  muzzle  (illus.),  27 

travel  faster  than  sound,  32 

velocity  of,  33 

viewed  in  transit,  33 

weight  of,  53 
Proving  grounds,  for  big  guns,  (illus.),  53 
Pyro,  used  in  developing,  23 
Quarry,  cement  (illus.),  96 
Quill  the,  in  writing  (illus.),  14 
Quills,  raising  geese  for,  14 
Rails,  steel  making,  blast  furnace  (illus.),  234 

blooming  mill  (illus.),  237 

crane,  carrying  ingot,  (iUus.),  236 

length  of,  238 

mixer  (iUus.),  234 

molten  steel,  pouring  (illus.),  236 

open  hearth  furnace  (illus.),  235 

pouring  side  of  open  hearth  furnace,   235 

shrinkage  of,  238 

soaking  pit  (illus.),  236 

temperature  in  furnace,  235 
Rain,  where  it  goes,  222 

why  it  freshens  the  air,  222 
Rainbow,  cause  of,  253 

colors  in,  what  makes?  254 

ends  of,  254 
Rays,  change  their  course,  38 

lieat  from  light,  36 

of  light,  36 

Roentgen,  307 


594 

INDEX 

Rays-X,  what  are  they?  307 

Rubber,  Para,  387 

Reason,  is  there  one  for  everything?  200 

pneumatic  tires,  383 

Reed,  the  (ilhis.),  12 

pure,  why  not  used,  380 

Reflection,  in  mirror,  22,  91 

spreading,  381 

Refraction,  changing  light  rays  called,  38 

spreader  room  (illus.),  383 

of  liK'ht,  38 

tapping  (illus),  377 

Reproduction,  of  life,  in  birds,  179 

tire  building  machines  (illus.),  385 

in  fishes,  177 

tires,  how  made,  378-379-380 

in  plants,  175 

tread  laying  room,  384 

why  we  must  have,  174 

tubes,  inner,  how  made,  385 

Rifle,'  Kentucky,  45 

vulcanizing,  384 

kick  of,  47 

washing,  378 

modern  automatic,  47 

wild,  what  is,  387 

over-loading,  47 

why  not  used  pure,  380 

wheel-lock  (illus.),  46 

wrapping  room,  386 

Rifling,  causes  rotation  of  projectile,  32 

Rugs,  designs  imitated  by  machinery,  168 

a  big  gim  (illus.),  60 

Persian  (Illus.),  167 

of  a  gun,  53 

Persian,  how  made,  167 

invented  in  Avistria,  46 

Persian,  imitation,  167 

Roads,  concrete  (illus.),  103 

Persian  Kurdistan  (illus.),  167 

Roentgen  Rays,  307 

Persian,  wliere  best  are  made,  167 

Rope,  breaker  (illus.),  360 

Tabriz,  reproduction  (illus),  168 

compound  laying  machine  (illus),  361 

weaving  by  machine  (illus.),  171 

cross-section,  362 

Rug  manufacturing,  carding  machine  (illus.), 

draw  frame  (illus.),  360 

^70 

drying  fiber,  354 

examining  and  repairing  (illus.),  173 

Egyptian  kitchen  (illus.),  354 

packing  for  shipment  (illus.),  173 

Egj-ptians  making  (illus.),  353 

processes,  169-170 

preparing  the  fiber  in  (illus.),  359 

weaving  by  machinery  (illus.),  171 

four-strand  (illus.),  362 

wool  .sorting,  170 

hackling,  354 

Sadness,  cause  of  tears,  38 

hemp  (illus.),  356 

Salt,  beds,  493 

hemp  in  warehouse  (illus.),  356 

chemical  name  of,  493 

knots,  363 

in  water,  351 

lengths,  standard,  362 

mines,  493 

oiling  in  manufacture,  356 

Salt  Lake,  493 

long  made  by  hand,  354 

soda,  493 

machine  (illus.),  358 

supply  for  Umted  States,  493 

opening  bales  of  fiber  (illus.),  359 

wells,  493 

preparation  room  (illus  ),  359 

where  it  comes  from,  493 

scraping  fiber  (illus.),  354 

Scales,  pressure  of  light  on,  37 

sliver  formation  of  (illus.),  360 

School  slates,  where  they  come  from,  495 

spindles,  355 

Score,  origin  of,  26 

spinning  after  turn,  355 

Scouring,  wool  (illus.),  85 

Rope  spinning,  after  turn,  355 

Scouring    and    weaving,    in    making    woolen 

foreturn,  355 

cloth  (illus.),  88 

sphcing  (illus.),  364 

Screens,  in  shot  tower,  51 

spreader  (illus.),  360 

Sea,  diver,  202 

stakes,  355 

how  men  go  down  to  the  bottom  of,  202 

Rope  walk,  modern  (illus.),  357-358 

navigating  on  bottom  of,  283 

old-fashioned  (illus.),  355 

time  calculated  on  the,  315 

Routine,  of  a  telephone  call  (illus.),  68 

what  the  bottom  looks  like,  202 

Rubber,  automobile  tires,  382 

what  makes  it  roar,  401 

biscuit,  377 

Second,  reckoning  in  millionths  of  a,  25 

blisters,  379 

pictures  taken  in  one  five-thousandth  of  a. 

blow  holes,  379 

31 

breaker-strip,  384 

Seeds,  why  plants  produce,  175 

calendering,  38 1 

Seeing,  why  we  cannot  see  in  dark,  91 

castilloa,  387 

Sensation,  of  sight,  22 

cement,  381 

Sensitive,  paper,  23 

crude,  377-378 

Service,  military,  U.  S.,  24 

curing  room,  382-383 

Shadows,  cause  of,  495 

dr>'er,  379 

Shell,  sounds  in  a,  79 

fabric.  384 

Shells,  filling  with  powder,  50 

furnishing  pneumatic  tires  (illus.),  386 

inspection  of  metalhc  (illus.),  49 

gathering  (illus.),  377 

putting  metal  heads  on  paper,  50 

how  secured,  377 

wad-paper  in  making,  50 

how  are  inner  tubes  made,  385 

Sheep,  coming  out  of  forest  (illus.),  82 

marketing  balls  of,  377 

first  in  America,  80 

mixing,  379 

fleece  packing,  82 

INDEX 


595 


Sheep,  how  much  wool  does  a  sheep  produce?  83 

how  wool  is  taken  from  the,  82 

how  taken  care  of ,  82 

how  we  get  wool  off  of,  82 

industry  in  America,  80 

industry  in  the  colonies,  8 1 

industry  in  the  west,  81 

number  in  the  west,  81 

shearing,  82 

shearing  machines,  82 

wool-producing,  83 

why  sheep  precede  the  plow  in  civilizing  a 
country,  81 
Shield  driving,  air  lock  bvilkhead  (illus.),  210 

caulking  the  joints  (illus,),  214 

description  of  airlocks,  213 

erector  at  work  (illus.),  214 

erector  (illus.),  210 

at  end  of  journey  (illus.),  216 

grommetting  the  bolts  (illus.),  214 

grouting  (illus.),  214 

how  it  cuts  in  tunnel  building,  212 

how  thay  meet  exactly  (illus.),  215 

in  tunnel  building  (illus.),  208 

kej^  plate  (illus.),  214 

curves  around  (illus.),  216 

models  of  Penna.  RR.  tunnel  shields  (illus.), 
212 

rear  end  in  tunnel  building  (illus.),  210 

tunnels,  front  view  (illus.),  209 
Ship,  how  does  a  captain  steer  his,  407 

how  can  it  sail  under  water?  269 
Shoes,  Amazeen  skiving  machine,  550 

assembling  machine  (illus.),  552 

automatic     heel     loading     and     attaching 
machine  (illus.),  560 

automatic  leveling  machine  (illus.),  559 

automatic  sewing  machine,  555 

American  made,  547 

ancient    and    modem    forms    of    sandals, 
(i.Uus.),  543 

ancient  sandal  maker  (illus.),  541 

beginning  of  a  shoe  (illus.),  549 

boot  developed  from  the  sandal,  544 

boots  (illus.),  546 

channel  cementing  machine  (illus.),  558 

channel  laying  machine  (illus.),  559 

channel  opening  machine  (illus.),  558 

Crakron  or  peaked  (illus.),  544 

which  church  and  law  forbade  (illus.),  544 

description  of  ancient  sandal  (illus.),  542 

dyeing  out  machine,  551 

different  parts  come  together,  551 

duplex  eyeletting  machine,  550 

edgei  ri Imming  machine  (illus.),  560- 

Ensign  lacing  machine,  551 

evolution  of  the  sandal  to  the  shoe  (illus.), 
542 

first  machine  for  making  shoes,  545 

hand  method  lasting  machine   (illus.),   553 

heel  breasting  machine  (illus),  560 

heel'trimming  machine  (illus),  560 

ideal  clicking  machine,  550 

Inseam  trimming  machine  (illus.),  556 

insole  tacking,  551 

lasting  machine  (illus.),  553 

loose  nailing  machine  (illus.),  559 

success  of  McKay  machine,  547 

machine  that  forms  and  drives  tacks,  554 

machines  which  punch  the  soles  of,  559 


Shoes,  my  lady's  slippers  (illus.),  548 
placing  shanic  and  filling  bottom,  556 
planet  rounding  machine,  551 
power  tip  press,  550 
pulling  over  machine  (illus.),  552 
putting  the  ground  cork  and  rubber  cement 

in,  556 
rolling  machine,  551 
rounding  and  channelling  machine   (illus.), 

557 

sewing  the  sole  on,  558 

slugging  machine  (illus.),  560 

sole  laying  machine  (illus.),  557 

Summit  splitting  machine,  551 

upper  stapling  machine  (illus.),  554 

upper  trimming  machine  (illus.),  554 

welt  and  turned  shoe  machine    (illus.),    555 

welt  beating  and  washing  machine,  556 

welt  sewing  machine,  551 

what  was  the  first  foot  covering  like?  541 

"  whipping  the  cat,"  545 

who  made  the  first  shoe  in  America?  545 

work  performed  by  heeling  machine  (illus.), 
560 
Shooting  tests  (illus.),  48 
Shotguns,  assembling  of,  (illus.),  48 
Shot  pellets,  51 
Shrinking,  pit  for  big  gun,  59 
Shuttle,  In  weaving  wool,  86 
Siberian  lambs,  in  South  Dakato  (illus.),  80 
Signs,  talking  by,  18 
SiUca,  mine  (illus.),  247 
Silk,  109 

called  "  bomby-kia,"  1 10 

caring  for  young  worms,  II3 

culture,  no 

drying  skeins  of,  119 

dyeing,  121 

first  step  in  manufacture,  1 19 

first  used,  109 

hatching  eggs,  113 

introduction    of    into    Europe    (illus.),  no 

number  of  cocoons  in  poimd  of,  117 

manufacture  of,  119 

method  of  reeling,  113 

moths  depositing  eggs  (illus.),  112 

preparing  cocooning  beds,  112 

reeling  silk  from  cocoon  (illus.),  118 

spinning  (illus.),  120 

thread  made  uniform  (illus.),  120 

threads  ready  for  the  weaver,  1 2 1 

twisting  (illus.),  120 

use  of,  109 

water-stretcher  (illus.),  12 1 

winding  (illus.),  119 
Silk  manufacture,  doubling  frames,  120 

spinning,  120 

twisting,  120 
Silk  moth,  description  of  114 
Silkworm,  age,  115 

first  breeder  of,  109 

chrysalis  (illus.),  114 

cocoon,  115 

cocoon,  beginning  of  (illus.),  II6 

cocooning  bed  (illus.),  112 

description  of,  114 

domestication  of.  III 

eating  (illus.),  1 15 

female  moth  (ilhis.),  114 

Ii'iw  cared  for,   i  13 


596 

INDEX 

Silkworm,  liow  it  eats,  1 1 5 

Spinneret,  of  the  silkworm,  115 

home  of,  112 

Spinning  wheel,  in  making  cloth  from  wool,  81 

eggs,  how  imported,  1 1 1 

Sponge,  capillary  attraction  of,  18 

hatching  the  eggs  (illus.),  113 

Sponges,  l)ree(ling  time  of,  286 

how  he  does  liis  work,  114 

how  du  tliey  grow?  286 

larvae  of,  (illus.),  114 

how  they  eat,  287 

motions  of  head  in  spinning,  115 

how  they  are  caught,  287 

molting  season,  115 

where  they  come  from?  286 

moths  emerging   from   cocoon 

(illus.),    117 

Stable,  underground  (illus.),  158 

male  moth  (illus.),  114 

Stars,  counted  in  photograph,  223 

mulberry  branches  for  (illus.),  112 

do  they  shoot  down?  255 

one   of   the   world's   greatest   wonders,    116 

how  counted,  241 

preparing   for   making   cocoon 

(illus.),    116 

how  many  there  arc,  223 

rehired,  how  they  (illus.),  115 

photographed,  223 

shedding  old  skin,  115 

what  makes  them  twinkle,  38 

spinneret  of  the,  115 

Steamship,  beginning  of  (illus.),  337 

spinning  cocoon,  115 

cross-section,  346 

wild,  109 

building  of  a  (illus.),  337 

Silver,  definition  of,  207 

cradle  of  a,  338 

use,  history  of,  207 

double  bottom,  339 

why  docs  it  tarnish,  266 

end  to  end  section,  346-347 

Silver  bromide,  in  photography,  23 

funnel  (illus.),  345 

Skins,  used  for  clothing,  80 

gantry  (illus.),  338 

Sky,  will  it  ever  fall?  255 

hull  (illus.),  341 

why  is  it  blue?  253 

hull  before  launching  (illus.),  340 

Soap, lye  in,  411 

inside  of  (illus.),  346-347 

palm  olive  oil  in,  411 

launching  of  a  (illus.),  340 

what  made  of,  411 

launching  machinery  (illus),  341 

Soda,  Leblanc  process,  494 

ready  to  launch  (illus.),  340     ^ 

Solvay  process,  494 

plates  (illus.),  339 

where  we  get,  494 

ribs  (illus.),  338 

Solids,  definition,  348 

skeleton  (illus),  339 

Some  wonders  of  the  human  body 

.  311 

turbine,  weight  of,  344 

Sound,  deadening  of,  79 

turbine  (illus.),  344 

first  over  a  wire,  71 

Steel  pen,  how  made,  16 

how  measured,  242 

Steel  rail  making,  blast  furnace  (illus.),  234 

how  produced,  485 

Blooming  mill  and  engine  (illus.),  237 

speed  of,  140-486 

dump  bugg>',  237 

travels  through  air  slowly,  31 

crane,  carrying  ingot  (illus.),  236 

in  a  sea  shell,  79 

ingot,  237 

what  is,  78-485 

ingot  becomes  a  rail  (illus.),  238 

waves,  79 

mixer  (illus.),  234 

waves,  length  of,  487 

molten  steel  being  poured  into  ladle  (illus.), 

where  comes  from,  78 

236 

Slate  pencil,  why  cannot  write  o'^ 

paper  with, 

open-hearth  furnace  (illus.),  235 

18 

furnace,   pouring  sides  of  an  open  hearth 

Sleep,  where  are  we  when,  365 

(illus.),  235_ 

with  eyes  open,  why  we  cannot. 

92 

iron,  purification  of,  235 

ghosts,  367 

soaking  pit  (illus.),  236 

why  heart  beats  during,  igi 

furnace,  temperature  in,  235 

why  we  go  to,  365 

Stick,  why  it  bends  in  water ,538 

restless,  92 

making  a  fire  with,  42 

Sling,  man  in  action  (illus.),  41 

Stockings,  where  it  goes  when  the  hole  comee, 

how  first  made,  41 

64 

Slings,  and  their  drawbacks,  42 

Stone-throwing,  41 

Slow  match,  of  early  firearms,  45 

Stones,  where  they  come  from,  494 

Smells,  why  do  flowers  have,  176 

Story  in  an  automobile,  181 

Smoke-cone,  in  gun-firing  (illus.). 

28 

in  a  loaf  of  bread,  460 

Smokeless  powder,  35 

in  a  book,  561 

Smoke-rings,  hard  as  steel,  27 

in  a  building  foundation,  496 

Smoke  signals,  of  Indians,  412 

in  a  cablegram,  428 

Smoke-zone,    in  gun  firing,  1 1 1 

in  a  barrel  of  cement,  95 

Sneezing,  what  makes  us,  194 

in  a  stick  of  chocolate,  388 

why  do  we,  194 

in  a  suit  of  clothes,  80 

Snowflakes,  what  makes  them  wh 

ite?  409 

in  a  lump  of  coal,  257 

Space,  extends,  how  far,  256 

in  a  bale  of  cotton,  470 

Sparkle,  when  merry,  why  eyes,  92 

of  a'cup  and  saucer,  404 

Spear,  as  a  weapon,  42 

of  the  deep  sea  diver,  203 

Specific  gravity,  meaning  of,  268 

in  an  electric  light,  305 

Speed,  of  lij^dit,  36 

in  an  elevator,  395 

INDEX 


597 


Story  in  a  finger  print,  520 

in  a  flying  machine,  126 

in  a  gas  jet,  303 

in  a  gun,  40 

in  a  honey  bee,  526 

in  a  magnet  (illus.),  326 

in  a  lead  pencil,  466 

in  lighting  a  fire,  289 

in  a  lock,  491 

in  a  can  of  paint,  224 

in  a  pen,  1 1 

in  a  piano,  478 

in  a  photograph,  22 

in  "  Pigs  is  Pigs  "  (illus.),  374 

in  a  pipe  and  cigar,  512 

in  a  railroad  engine,  440 

in  a  coil  of  rope,  353 

in  a  ball  of  rubber  (illus.),  378 

in  a  rug,  167 

in  a  pair  of  shoes,  541 

in  a  steel  rail  (illus.),  234 

in  a  submarine  boat  (illus.),  269 

in  a  lump  of  sugar,  145 

in  a  telegram,  412 

in  the  telephone,  65 

in  a  time  piece,  313 

in  a  tunnel,  208 

in  a  drink  of  water,  501 

in  a  window  pane,  246 

in  the  wireless,  455 

in  a  yard  of  silk,  109 

in  a  piece  of  leather,  538 
Stringed  instruments,  the  first,  480 

discovery  of,  479 
Stretching,  why  do  we,  192 

what  happens  when  we,  193 
Stylus,  iron,  13 

the  in  writing  (illus.),  11 
Submarine,  accidents  and  their  causes,  278 

air  and  how  it  may  become  poisonous,  278 

buoyancy  of,  270 

"  Bushnell's  Turtle,"  280 

cargo,  recovering  of,  285 

clearing  a  channel  of  buoyant  mines  (illus.), 
283 

development  of,  280-281 

divers'  compartment,  270 

equilibrium,  270 

explosions,  278 

first  practical  (illus.),  271 

gas,  explosion  of,  278 

"  G-i  "  (illus.),  272 

Holland,  282 

how  we  look   through  a  periscope   (illus.), 
276 

hydroplanes  on,  270 

hydroplane,  282 

ice,  unfler  (illus.),  279 

inside  of  a  (illus.),  272 

lens,  of  periscope  (illus.),  276 

living  quarters  (illus.),  285 

mice  on,  278 

mine  planting  inside  of  (illus.),  277 

omniscope,  271 

one  of  the  first  practical,  271 

"  Proctor,"  first  practical,  271 

"  Proctor"  suhmc-rgcfl  (illus.),  271 

jjcriscopc  top  t){  (ilhis.),  276 

rudflcr,  horizontal,  270 

sailin^(  dose  to  surface  Cilltis.),  273 


Submarine,  seeing  in  all  directions  at  once,  276 

Simon  Lake,  American  inventor  of,  282 

steadiness  of  (illus.),  273 

under  the  ice  (illus.),  279 

submergence,  270 

water  pressure  on,  270 

who  made  the  first,  280 
Submarine     boat,     "  Argonaut     the     First " 

(illus.),  269-282 

"  Argonaut  Junior  "  (illus.),  269-282 

who  made  the  first,  280 
Submarine  mines,  amount  of  powder  used,  34 
Sugar,  carbonatation  station  (illus.),  150 

chemical  laboratory  in   factory    (illus.),    149 

cucular  diffusion  battery  in  factory  (illus.) 
149 

filter  presses  (illus.),  150 

how  taken  from  beets,  150 

sulphur  station  (illus.),  150 

washing  the  beets,  149 
Sugar  factory,   carbonatation   station    (illus.), 

chemical  laboratory  in  (illus.),  149 

circular  diffusion  battery  (illus.),  149 

filter  presses  (illus.),  150 

sulphur  station  (illus.),  150 
Suit,  cost  of  wool  in  a,  83 
Sulphite  of  soda,  used  in  developing,  23 
Sun,  distance  from  earth,  141 

revolving  on  its  axis,  511 
Sim-dial  (illus.),  315 

in  determining  noon  (illus.),  316 

concrete  (illus.),  loi 
Sunlight,  effect  on  balance,  37 
Svmset,  cause  of  colors  in,  253 
Swallowing,  what  happens  when  we,  195 
Swimming,  why  man  must  learn,  125 
Switchboard,  telephone,  69 

back  of  a,  telephone  (illus.),  69 

telephone,  the  first  (illus.),  74 
Talking,  how  man  learned  talking,  18 

signs  and  gestures,  18 
Talking  machines,  490 
Target,  floating,  31 

Never  seen  by  men  firing  mortar,  29 

projectile,  arrival  at,  24 
Tears,  caused  by  onions,  38 

as  an  eye-wash,  38 

run  along  channel,  38 

where  they  come  from,  94 

where  they  go,  94 
Teeth,  why  they  are  called  wisdom,  125 

why  they  chatter,  218 
Telegram,  how  it  gets  there,  414 

story  in  a,  412 
Telegraph,  cables  (illus.),  424 

code,  419 

calling  a  messenger,  414 

waiting  calls  (illus.),  414 

arrival  at  destination  (illus.),  417 

duplex,  417 

electric,  420 

electric,  first  suggestion  of,  420 

inventor  oi,  420 

two  men  inventors  (jf ,  42 1 

instruments,  425 

instrumens,  first  sending  (illus.),  426 

instrument,  sending,  41H 

key,  modern  (illus.),  427 

key,  .'I  l;it<T,  427 


598 

INDEX 

Telegraph,  key,  sending  (illus.),  418 

Time,  iiow  man  measured,  314 

line,  first,  422 

modern    clock,    description    of    (illus.),    319 

messenger  receives  message  (illus.),  415 

primitive  twelve-hour  clock,  318 

messages,  number  sent  in  a   day,  417 

water  clocks  for,  317 

multiplex,  417 

water-clock  (illus.),  318 

operating  room  (illus.),  423 

man's  first  divisions  of,  314 

the  pony  (illus.),  413 

what  it  is,  313 

quadruple,  417 

three  great  steps  in  measuring,  316 

Wheatstone,  receiver  (illus.),  425 

first  methods  of  telling  (illus.),  313 

Wheatstone  sender  (illus.),  425 

in  New  Testament,  314 

receiving  operator  (illus.),  416 

sun-dial  (illus.),  315 

relay,  the  first  (illus.),  426 

sun-dial  in  determining  noon,  316 

relay,  nKxlern  (illus.),  427 

calculated  at  sea,  315 

recording  apparatus  first  (illus.),  426 

tower  of  the  winds  (illus.),  318 

recording  instrument  improved,  (illus.). 

427 

how  tokl   when   sun  casts  no  shadows,   317 

repeater  room  (illus.),  424 

Tin,  why  used  for  cooking  utensils,  267 

sending  operator  (illus.),  416 

Tobacco,  bam,  515 

sounder,  modern  (illus.),  427 

growing  crop,  care  of,  514 

main  .switchboard  (illus.),  423 

growing  under  cheesecloth  (illus.),  512 

automatic  typewriter  (illus.),  425 

grown  in  Cuba,  513 

Telephone,  apparatus,  65 

cultivation  of,  516 

birthplace  of  (illus.),  70 

curing  of,  515 

cost  of  number  in  use  (illus.),  77 

cigars,  how  made,  517 

display  board  (illus.),  65 

how  discovered,  512 

discovery  of,  71 

field  (illus.),  515 

feeding  cable  into  duct  (illus.),  76 

figures  about,  519 

first  outdoor  demonstration,  75 

filler,  518 

how  an  emperor  saved  the,  73 

fertilization,  514 

forces  behind  your,  77 

where  it  comes  from,  512 

modem  distributing  frame  (illus.),  75 

shade  growing,  517 

hne,  the  first,  72 

where  does  it  grow,  512 

line  lamp,  66 

harvesting,  515 

pilot  lamp,  66 

Havana,  where  grown,  513 

from  bottom  of  ocean,  203 

origin  of  name,  512 

operator,  67 

planting,  514 

breaking  up  the  asphalt  pavement  (illus.),  76 

seed  beds,  514 

a  cable  trouble  (illus.),  76 

first  care  in  selection,  51S 

call  routine  of  (illus.),  68 

strippers,  518 

beginning  of  service,  75 

bulk  sweating,  516 

the  first  switchboard,  72 

wrappers,  518 

laying    multiple    duct    subway    (illus.), 

76 

butter  worm,  514 

first  practical  commercial  test  of  telephone. 

Toes,  wliy  we  have  ten,  142 

75 

Toothache,  what  good  can  come  from?  410 

how  w'ires  are  put  underground  (illus.) 

,  76 

cause  of,  410 

nine  miUion  in  use,  75 

Torches,  used  in  battles,  44 

the  first  words  over,  74 

Tow-line,  of  floating  target,  31 

Tens,  counting  in,  19 

Trains,  why  harder  to  stop  than  start,  223 

Test,  of  big  gun  (illus.),  53 

Transparent,  why  some  things  are,  350 

Testing,  materials  and  products  in  gun  factory 

Trees,  found  in  coal,  261 

(illus.),  50 

Tube,  of  a  gun,  54 

artillery  instruments,  24 

Tunnels,  accidents  in,  218 

Tests,  shooting  (illus.),  48 

causes  of  accidents,  218 

Things,  to  know  about  a  big  gun,  53 

accuracy  of  engineering,  215 

Throats,  making  sounds  with  our,  78 

airlocks,  description  of,  213 

Thread,  silk,  made  uniform  (illus.),  120 

operation  of  airlocks,  213 

Thunder,  whj'  it  precedes  lighting,  140 

compres.sed  air  method,  211 

lints  it  sour  milk?   196 

the  bends,  213 

Tickled,  why  we  laugh  when,  93 

bends,  the  danger  of,  213 

Tides,  where  does  water  go  at,  low,  219 

bends,  the  symptoms  of,  213 

Time,  age  of  clocks,  391 

dangers  in  building,  218 

blacksmith's  clock  (illus.),  320 

ijrommetting  the  bolts,  (illus.),  214 

first  modern  clock,  319 

■x)rings  in  ground  (illus.),  216 

hour-glass  (illus.),  317 

airlock  bulkhead  (illus.),  210 

time-boy  of  India  (illus.),  317 

how  built,  209 

where  the  day  changes,  325 

driving  shield  rear  end  of  in  tunnel  build- 

where is  the  hour  changed?  325 

ing  (illus.),  210 

clock    in    Independence    Hall    (illus.). 

323 

caissons  in  Hudson  tunnels  (illus.),  217 

clock  in  New  York  City  Hall   (illus.). 

323 

curves,  how  made  (illus.),  216 

largest  clock  in  the  world,  321 

how  shield  cuts  through,  212 

machinery  which  runs  a  big  clock  (illus.) 

322 

how  dug  under  water,  208 

INDEX 


599 


Tunnels,  erector  (illus.),  210 

erector  at  work  (illus.),  214 

grouting  (illus),  214 

inventor  of  shield  method,  209 

inventor  of  compressed  air  method,  211 

caulking  the  joints  (illus.),  214 

making  joints  water  tight,  214 

at  end  of  journey  (illus.),  216 

land  end  of  Hudson  tunnels  (illus.),  217 

danger  of  leaks.  213 

result  of  leaks   (illus.),  213 

concrete   lining    (illus.),   216 

key  plate  (illus.),  214 

diagrams  of  driving  shield   (illus.),  208 

biggest  ever  built  by  shield  method,  209 

rear  end  of  driving  shield   (illus.),  210 

driving  shield  front  view  (illus.).  209 

how  the  shields  meet  exactly  (illus.),  215 

models  of  Penna  RR.  tunnel  shield  (illus.), 
212 
Turbine,  how  it  works  (illus.),  344 
Twinkle,  what  makes  stars,  38 
Twinkling  stars,  due  to  interference,  38 
Types  of  cartridges  (illus.),  49 
Umbrella,  who  made  the  first,  312 

who  carried  the  first,  312 
Uncle  Sam,  hew  name  originated,  458 
Undercutting  with    compressed    air    machine 

(illus.),  261 
Vault  of  telephone  cables  (illus.),  67 
Velocity  of  a  projectile,  53 
Waking,  why  we  wake  up,  365 
Walking,  difficult  to,  straight  with  eyes  closed, 

why  cannot  babies  walk  as  soon  as  born,  180 
Wall,  sounds  through  a  thick,  79 
Water,  aqueduct  (illus.),  505 

Ashokan  Reservoir  (illus.),  502 

boiling-point  of,  35-220 

drinking,  where  does  it  come  from,  501 

hard,  221 

how  is  a  big  dam  built,  502 

Hudson  River  siphon  (illus.),  507 

in  ocean  where  it  came  from,  218 

pumping  station  (illus.),  503 

real  source  of  the  (illus.),  506 

regulating  chamber  (illus.),  506 

reservoir,  503 

soft,  221 

as  standard  in  measuring  specific  gravity 

solids,  268 

what  made  of,  348 

what  makes  it  boil,  220 

what  makes  water  shoot  in  air,  198 

what  hard  is,  221 

what  soft  is,  221 

why  don't  water  in  ocean  sink  in,  219 

why  does  it  run,  219 

why  it  puts  fire  out,  222 

why  runs  off  a  duck's  back,  233 

why  sea  water  is  salty,  351 
Watson,  Thomas  A.,  (illus.),  70 
Wave,  of  light  changed  into  heat,  36 
Waves,  of  sfjund,  79 
Weight,  of  light,  37 

(>{  projectiles,  53 
What  does  the  air  weigh?  398 

animal  can  leap  the  greatest  distance?  122 

causes  an  arrow  to  fly?  408 

makes  some  peojjle  b;ild?  143 


What  keeps  a  balloon  up?  199 
makes  a  ball  stop  bouncing,  63 
are  ball  bearings?  180 
happens  when  a  bee  stings?  537 
makes  the  hills  look  blue  sometimes?  255 
makes  me  blush?  194 

was  the  origin  and  meaning  of  bread?  460 
is  the  hottest  spot  on  earth?  239 
holds  a  building  up?  496 
makes  a  bubble  explode,  108 
is  carbonic  acid?  509 
is  a  cable  made  of?  429 
is  the  eye  of  the  camera?  22 
do  ocean  cables  look  like  when  cut  in  two? 

(illus.),  428 
do  we  mean  by  i8-carat  fine?  266 
is   clay?  495 
is  color?  123 

produces  the  colors  we  see?  123 
makes  the  colors  in  the  rainbow?  254 
makes  the  colors  of  the  sunset?  253 
are  cocoa  shells?  390 
is  cement?  95 
is  cement  used  for?  95 
a  cement  miU  looks  like  (illus.),  96 
is  cement  made  of?  95 
is  cement  used  for,  95 
is  concrete?  95 
makes  some  things  in  the  same  room  colder 

than  others?   144 
does  woolen  cloth  come  from?  80 
was  the  cross-bow?  44 
are  diamonds  made  of?  351 
causes  dimples?  352 
makes  us  dream?  366 
were  man's  first  divisions  of  time?  314 
makes  things  whirl  around  when  I  am  dizzy? 

402 
is  dust?  104 

becomes  of  the  dust?  104 
are  drone  bees  good  for?  531 
is  meant  by  deadening  a  floor  or  a  wall?  79 
causes  earache?  410 
makes  an  echo?  200 

are  the  principal  parts  of  an  elevator?  396 
causes  the  explosion  in  a  gas  engine?  (illus.) 

182 
happens  when  .anything  explodes?  205 
is  an  element?  349 

makes  the  hollow  place  in  a  boiled  egg?  179 
is  electricity?  329 
is  an  electric  current?  334 
makes  an  electric   magnet   lift   things?  326 
do  we  mean  by  Fahrenheit?  22 1 
makes  a  fish  move  in  swimming?  233 
is  fog?  105 
makes  the  water  from  a  fountain  shoot  into 

the  air?  198 
makes  freckles  come?  125 
makes  a  gasoline  engine  go?   181 
is  gravitation?  267 
does  sj)ecific  gravity  mean?  268 
makes  a  cold  glass  crack  if  we  put  hot  water 

in  it?  63 
are  ghosts?  367 
causes  the  gurgle  when  I  pour  water  from  a 

bottle?  63 
causes  hail?  124 
is  the  horizon?  244 
causes  a  hot  box?  368 


What  good  are  the  lines  on  the  palms  of  our 

hands?  402 
does  horse-power  mean?  256 
is  hydrogen  gas?  349 
makes  us  feel  hungry?  243 
makes  knots  in  boards?  223 
were   the  eiirliest   lamps?  295 
were    tlie    lamps    of    the    wise   and    foolish 

maidens?  295 
happens  when  we  laugh?  93 
makes  us  laugh  when  glad?  92 
is  a  leyden  jar?  332 
is  a  lodestone?  327 
makes  lobsters  turn  red?  245 
makes  the  lump  come  in  my  throat  when  I 

cry?   195 
makes  a  match  light  when  we  strike  it?   198 
would  we  do  witJiout  matches?  292 
is  a  metal?  265 

is  the  most  valuable  metal?  265 
is  the  milky  way?  255 
is  a  molecule?  348 
is  money?  455 
is  motion?  61 
made  the  mountains?  401 
is  music?  478 

does  a  note  in  music  consist  of?  490 
is  organic  matter?  174 
is  oxygen?  349 
is  nitrogen?  350 

makes  nitroglycerin  explode  so  readily?  206 
causes  nightmare?  367 
is  pain  and  whj-  does  it  hurt?  244 
makes    the    different    colors    in    paint?  229 
is  pitch  in  music?  489 
is  the  principle  of  the  wireless?  455 
makes  some  pencils  hard  and  others  soft?  467 
makes  rays  of  light?  230 
makes  us  red  in  the  face,  192 
makes  the  rings  in  the  water  when  I  throw 

a  stone  into  it?  197 
is  rubber?  386 
is  wild  rubber?  387 
should  I  do  if  stung  by  a  bee?  537 
is  the  cause  of  shadows?  495 
makes  the  sea  roar?  401 
does  the  bottom  of  the  sea  look  like?  220 
becomes  of  the  smoke?  106 
and  w'hy  is  smoke?  105 

causes  the  smoke  when  a  gun  goes  ofT?  206 
is  smokeless  powder  made  of?  206 
makes  snowflakes  white?  409 
depth  of  snow  is  equivalent  to  an  inch  of 

rain?  241 
is  soap  made  of?  411 
makes  a  soap  bubble?  108 
shot  tower  looks  like?  51 
makes  us  sneeze?  194 
is  silver?  207 

happens  when  we  stretch?  193 
makes  me  want  to  stretch?  192 
happens  when  I  swallow?  195 
is  sound?  485 

are  the  properties  of  sound?  486 
are  the  sounds  we  hear  in  a  sea  shell?  79 
makes  the  sounds  like  waves  in  a  sea  shell?  79 
does  a  sounding  board  do?  488 
is  meant  by  the  length  of  sound  waves?  487 
makes  us  thirsty?  243 
makes  me  tired?  403 


What  a  great  steamship  looks  like  inside  (illusj, 
346 

did  the  first  telephone  look  like?  (illus.)  72 

occurs  when  we  think?  194 

are  the  big  tanks  near  the  gas  works  for?  298 

makes  the  stars  twinkle?  38 

a  ship's  turbine  looks  like  (illus.),  344 

is  the  largest  tree  in  the  world?  242 

happens  when  we  telephone?  65 

makes  water  boil?  220 

is  the  boiling-point  of  water?  220 

causes  a  whispering  gallery?  201 

makes  a  wireless  message  go?  455 

makes  the  works  of  a  watch  go?  368 

makes  the  white  caps  on  the  waves  white?  410 

is  worry?  207 

causes  the  wind's  whistle?  139 

makes  the  kettle  whistle?  198 

causes  wrinkles?  196 

are  X-rays?  307 

is  yeast?  288 
When  did  man  first  try  to  fly?  126 

did  man  begin  to  live?  174 

were  candles  introduced?  296 

was  illuminating  gas  discovered?  302 

was  wheat  first  used  in  making  bread?  461 

I  throw  a  ball  into  the  air,  while  walking  why 
does  it  follow  me?  401 

was  silk  culture  introduced  in  America?  in 

were  street  lamps  first  used?  295 
Where  does  bread  come  from?,  460 

does  water  in  the  ocean  go  at  low  tide?  219 

does  silk  come  from?  109 

are  we  when  asleep?  365 

did  the  name  calico  come  from?  123 

cement  is  obt^iined  (illus.),  97 

does  chalk  come  from?  18 

does  chocolate  come  from?  388 

our  coal  comes  from?  257 

does  cotton  come  from,  470 

does  the  day  begin?  324 

does  the  day  change?  325 

did  the  term  Dixie  originate?  123 

does  honey  come  from?  526 

is  the  horizon?  244 

does  the  hour  change?  325 

the  gas  is  taken  from  the  coal  (illus.),  299 

did  all  the  names  of  people  come  from,  20 

did    the    expression    "  kick    the    bucket  " 
originate?  321 

does  leather  come  from?  538 

do  living  things  come  from?  174 

did  life  begin  on  earth?  174 

do  we  get  ivory?  239 

do  lead  pencils  come  from?  466 

does  the  wooden  part  of  a  lead  pencil  come 
from?  469 

does  a  light  go  when  it  goes  out?  36 

does  linseed  oil  come  from?  227 

does  paint  come  from?  224 

does  the  rain  go?  222 

are  the  best  Persian  rugs  made?  167 

does  rope  come  from?  353 

does  salt  come  from?  493 

do  we  get  soda?  494 

do  all  the  little  round  stones  come  from?  494 

does  the  part  of  a  stocking  go  that  was 
where  the  hole  comes?  64 

does  sound  come  from?  78 

do  school  slates  come  from?  495 


INDEX 


601 


Where  do  shoes  come  from?  541 

do  sponges  come  from?  286 

do  tears  come  from?  94 

do  the  tears  go?  94 

did  the  name  tobacco  originate?  512 

is  Havana  tobacco  grown?  513 

does  tobacco  come  from?  512 

does'tobacco  grow?  512 

did  all  the  water  in  the  ocean  come  from?  218 

does  our  drinking  water  come  from?  501 

does  most  of  our  wool  come  from?  81 

does  the  wind  begin?  139 

jp  the  wind  when  it  is  not  blowing?  139 

does  wool  come  from?  80 

did  the  term  Yankee  originate?  243 
Wheat,  bread  loaves  of  the  world,  459 

grinding  (illus.),  464 

harvesting  (illus.),  460 

scouring  of,  463 

tempering^of,  463 

when  first  used  in  making  bread,  461 

will  it  grow  wild?  461 
Wheel-lock  rifle  (illus.),  46 
Whispering   gallery,  accidental,  201 

cause  of,  201 

what  it  is,  201 
Whistle,  what  makes  the  kettle,  198 
White  Lead,  making  (illus.),  225 

buckles,  before  corrosion  (illus.),  225 

buckles  after  corrosion  (illus.),  225 

buckles,  making,  225 
Who  started  to  make  clothing  from  wool  in 
America?  81 

discovered  electricity?  333 

invented  electric  telegraph?  420 

who  make  the  first  felt  hat?  239 

made  the  first  cent?  458 

made  the  first  submarine  boat?  280 

first  discovered  the  silkworm?  109 

first  discovered  the  power  of  gunpowder?  44 

invented  flying?  126 

made  the  first  piano?  478 

brought  the  first  sheep  to  America?  80 

first  wove  silk  thread  into  cloth?  109 

make  the  first  shoes?  541 

made  the  first  umbrella?  312 
Why  don't  the  air  ever  get  used  up?  140 

can't  we  see  air?  140 

do  we  grow  aged?  196 

does  an  apple  turn  brown  when  cut?  106 

do  coats  have  buttons  on  the  sleeves?  64 

has  a  long  coat  buttons  on  the  back?  64 

cannot  babies  walk  as  soon  as  born?  180 

are  some  people  bald?  144 

don't  the  birds  stay  South?  408 

drx;s  a  ball  bounce?  63 

does  a  balloon  go  up?  199 

do  we  call  voting  balloting?  122 

does  a  barber  pole  have  stripes?  310 

do  some  things  bend  and  others  break?  62 

do  the  birds  come  back  in  the  Spring?  407 

do  l)irds  sing?  408 

do  birds  go  .South  in  the  Winter?  407 

are  birds'  eggs  of  flifTerent  colors?  233 

has  a  bee  a  sting?  336 

can  you  blow  out  a  candle?  21,  36 

are  bubbles  round?  108 
'  docs  red  make  a  bull  angry?  490 

do  we  get  a  bump  instead  of  a  dc-nt  when 
wc  knock  our  heads?  201 


Why  can't,  we  bum  stones?  105 
has  a  long  coat  buttons?  64 
is  bread  so  important?  460 
do  I  get  out  of  breath  when  running?  191 
do  we  call  a  cab  a  hansom?  122 
does  a  hen  cackle  after  laying  an  egg?  233 
do  children  like  candy?  409 
is  cement  called  Portland  cement?  95 
do  I  get  cold  in  a  warm  room?  125 
is  it  cold  in  winter?  141 
does  cold  make  our  hands  blue?  192 
does  an  ear  of  corn  have  silk?  170 
do  we  count  in  tens?  10 
we  cannot  see  in  the  dark,  91 
does  the  dark  cause  fear?  352 
do  we  have  to  die?  245 
does  a  dog  turn  round  and  round  before  he 

Hes  down,  229 
do  we  know   we   have   dreamed   when    we 

wake  up?  367 
does  eating  candy  make  some  people  fat?  409 
don't  an  elevator  fall?  397 
do  our  eyes  sparkle  when  we  are  merry?  92 
do  the  eyes  of  some  pictures  follow  us?  35 
is  it  difficult  to  walk  straight  with  my  eyes 

closed?  91 
do  I  get  red  in  the  face?  192 
are  some  faculties  stronger  than  others?  403 
is  a  fire  hot?  401 
does  a  fire  go  out,  37 
we  fear  the  dark?  352 
cannot  fishes  live  in  air?  232 
do  we  have  finger  nails?  142 
are  our  fingers  of  different  lengths?  142 
have  we  five  fingers  on  each  hand  and  five 

toes  on  each  foot?  142 
do  we  have  finger  nails?  142 
does  a  gasoline  engine  go?  181 
do  girls  like  dolls?  368 
is  gold  called  precious?  266 
are  gold  and  silver  best  for  coining?  457 
is  some  gun-powder  fine  and  others  coarse 

grained?  206 
are  some  guns  called  gatling  guns?  310 
does  a  glow-worm  glow?  231 
do  we  stop  growing?  195 
do  we  have  hair?  143 
does   the  hair  grow   after  the   body   stops 

growmg?  144 
don't  my  hair  hurt  when  it  is  being  cut?  143 
does    my  hair   stand    on  end  when   I   am 

frightened?  143 
is  the  right  hand  stronger  than  the  left?  309 
does  my  heart  beat  faster  when  I  am  scared  ? 

does  the  heart  beat  when  the  bram  is  asleep? 

191 
do    our    hearts    beat    faster    when    we    arc 

running?  191 
do  they  call  it  a  honeymoon?  31 
is  a  horseshoe  said  to  bring  good  luck?  311 
does  it  hurt  when  I  cut  my  finger?  143 
we  cry  when  hurt,  93 
does  iron  turn  red  when  red  hot?   107 
does  iron  sink  in  water?   106 
doesn't  an  iron  .ship  sink?  106 
do  we  have  twelve  men  on  a  jury?  239 
does  a   lamp  give  a   better   light  with   the 

chimney  on?  37 
are  there  many  languages?  197 


602 


INDEX 


Why  do  we  laugh  when  glad?  92 
is  lead  so  heavy?  267 
do  they  call  them  lead  pencils?  466 
must  life  be  reproduced?  174 
are  some  people  light  and  others  dark,  402 
did  people  of  long  ago  live  longer  than  we  do 

now?  199 
do  we  use  metal  for  coining?  456 
do  thay  call  it  the  milky  way?  255 
do  we  need  money?  455 
does  the  moon  travel  with  us  when  we  walk 

or  ride?  399 
should  we  not  sleep  with  the  moon  shining 

on  us?  366 
do  my  muscles  get  sore  when  I  play  ball  in 

the  spring?  310 
does  a  nail  get  hot  when  hammered?  230 
do  we  have  only  seven  octaves  on  a  piano? 

480 
does  ocean  look  blue  at  times?  219 
does   oiling   the   axle   make   the  wheel  turn 

more  easily?  400 
does  an  onion  make  the  tears  come?  38 
can't  I  write  on  paper  with  a  slate  pencil?  18 
does  a  pencil  write?  18 
are    some    races    white    and    others    black, 

yellow  and  brown?  537 
do  they  call  it  pin  money?  231 
do  we  call  them  pistols?  46 
do  plants  produce  seeds?  175 
does  a  poker  get  hot  at  both  ends  if  left 

in  the  fire?  107 
does  rain  make  the  air  fresh?  222 
are  most  people  right-handed?  403 
don't  we  make  roads  perfectly  level?    104 
don't  we  use  pure  rubber?  380 
does  salt  make  us  thirsty?  351 
don't   the   scenery   appear   to   move   when 

I  am  in  a  street  car?  399 
does  the  scenery  appear  to  move  when  we 

are  riding  in  a  train?  399 
can  cats  and  some  other  animals  see  in  the 

dark?  91 
can  we  see  farther  when  we  are  up  high?  245 
do  I  turn  white  when  scared?  193 
docs  silver  tarnish?  266 

does  the  sheep  precede  the  plow  in  civiliz- 
ing a  country?  81 
is  the  sky  blue?  253 
do  I  sneeze?  194 

do  we  see  stars  when  hit  on  eye?  268 
many  stars  are  there?  223 
does  a  stick  in  water  bend?  38 
does  a  sound  stop  when  we  touch  a  gong 

that  has  been  sounded,  78 
can  we  make  sounds  with  our  throats?  78 
do  people  shake  with  the  right  hand?  231 
do  we  go  to  sleep?  365 
does  it  seem  when  we  have  slept  all  night 

that  we  have  been  asleep  only  a  minute? 

366 
can't  we  sleep  with  our  eye  open?  92 
we  can  hear  through  speaking  tubes,  487 
does  a  human  being  have  to  learn  to  swim? 

125 
are  cooking  utensils  made  of  tin?  267 
do  we  use  copper  telegraph  wires?  266 
do  my  teeth  chatter?  218 
are  some  things  transparent  and  others  are 

are  not?  350 


Why  do  I  laugh  when  tickled?  93 

can  \ve  think  of  only  one  thing  at  a  time?  193 

does  thunder  always  come  after  the  light- 
ning? 140 

do  we  call  them  wisdom  teeth?  125 

are  some  roads  called  turnpikes?  104 

is  the  sea  water  salt?  351 

will  water  run  of?  a  duck's  back?  233 

do  we  worry?  207 

don't  the  water  in  the  ocean  sink  in?  219 

is  it  warm  in  summer?  141 

does  water  run?  219 

do  we  say  water  is  soft  or  hard?  221 

does  a  piece  of  wood  float  in  water?  106 

do  we  wake  up  in  the  morning?  365 

do  I  yawn?  173 

does  yeast  make  bread  rise?  288 
Will  people  all  be  bald  sometime?  144 

the  sky  ever  fall  down?  255 
Windows,  how  an  explosion  breaks  them,  62 
"^Vireless,  accidents,  prevention  of,  449 

aerial  on  R.  R.  stations  (illus),  451 

aerial  on  ship  (illus.),  455 

antenna;,  447 

antenna;  on  trains  (illus.),  450 

battery,  447 

coil,  447 

compass,  454 

development  of,  454 

direction  finder,  454 

distance  of  sending,  448 

equipment,  446 

first  Marconi  station,  452 

how  it  reaches  ships  at  sea,  446 

icebergs  (illus.),  449  ' 

in  the  army  (illus.),  447-448 

inventor  of,  452 

key,  447 

masts,  height  of,  44.8 

G.  Marconi,  portrait,  452 

on  trains  (illus.),  450 

prevents  accidents,  449 

principles  of,  455 

receiving  station  in  U.  S.  Army  (illus),  451 

spark  gap,  447 

stations,  shore  (illus.),  446 

stations  on  trains  (illus.),  450 

transmission  automatic  (illus.),  453 

transmission  of  messages  (illus.),  453 

what  kind  of  signs  are  used  in?  446 

why   don't   the   message   go   to   the   wrong 
stations,  455 

world-wide  use,  454 
Wires,  copper  telegraph,  266 

how  put  underground  (Ulus.),  76 

wire-wound  gun,  54 
Wonders   performed   by   electric   lift   magnet 

(illus.),  326 
Wool  beaming  (illus.),  89 

bobbin  in  weaving  machine,  86 

Burling  (illus.),  88 

burr  picker,  87 

carding,  85 

carding,  finisher  in  cloth  making  (illus.),  89 

chloride  of  aluminum  in  making  cloth,  87 

cleaning,  85 

made  clothing  from,  81 

combing  (illus.),  86 

cost  of  in  a  suit  of  clothes,  83 

crop  of  the  United  .States,  82 


INDEX 


603 


Wool  dyeing,  85-87 
fabrics,  85 
fiber  description,  83 
finishing,  box  (illus.),  87 
finish,  perching  (ilkis.),  90 
fulling  cloth  (illus.),  90 
gilling  after  carding  (illus.),  86 
gilling  and  maldng  top  after  combing  (illus.), 

86 
gilling  (illus.),  87 
greasy  matter  in,  84 
how  we  get  it  off  the  sheep,  82 
how  much  does  a  sheep  produce.  83 
how  much  does  America  produce,  82 
how  made  into  cloth,  85 
how  woolen  cloth  is  made  perfect,  88 
how  shipped,  82 
loom,  86 

mending,  perching  (illus.),  88 
mending  room  (illus.),  88 
woolen  mule  spinning  (illus.),  89 
napping,  89 

next  to  food  as  a  vital  necessity,  81 
piece  dyeing  (illus.),  90 
quahty  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  83 
raised  to  sell  to  manufacturers,  81 
reducer  machine  in  v/ool  making  (illus.),  87 
ring  twisting  (illus.),  89 
shipped  to  manufacturers,  82 
shuttle  in  weaving,  86 
scouring  (illus.),  85 
sorting  (illus.),  84 
spinning  process,  86 
spinning,  89 

English  cap  spinning,  89 
in  one  suit  of  clothes,  83 
sulphuric  acid  solution  in  making  cloth,  87 
teasel,  89 
tramper,  82 

in  United  States,  bulk  of,  82 
warp  thread,  86 
web,  86 

weaving  (illus.),  88 

where  does  most  of  our  wool  come  from?  81 
woof  of,  86 
made  into  yam,  86 


Wool  yarn  inspecting  (illus.),  89 

yolk  of,  84 
Woolen  cloth,  ready  for  market  (illus.),  90 
Woolens  and  worsteds,  difference  between,  84 
Woolworth  building  (illus.),  395 
Words,  formation  of,  19 

the  first  over  a  telephone,  74 
World's  bread  loaves  (illus.),  459 
Worry,  definition  of,  207 

what  it  is,  207 

Why  we,  207 
Worsted  carding  (illus.),  85 

fabrics,  85 
Worsteds  and  woolens,  difference  of,  84 
Wright  Brothers,  first  successful  flights,  130 
Wrinkles,  what  causes,  196 
Writing,  brush,  the  (illus.),  13 

earhest  ways  of,  12 

first  done  upon  rocks,  1 1 

first  imitation  of,  12 

first  metallic  pen  introduced,  15 

fluids  for  developing,  13 

how  man  learned  to,  1 1 

how  the  monks  did  their,  14 

how  a  pen  writes,  18 

modern  way  of,  16 

paper  for,  earliest,  14 

pen  invention  of,  00 

pen,  first  steel  (illus.),  15 

quill,  the  (illus.),  14 

Reed,  the,  in  (illus.),  12I 

steel  tube  pen  in  (illus.),  15  • 

steel  pen,  modern  (illus.),  16 

Stylus,  the  (illus.),  11 

with  chalk,  18 

why  a  pencil  writes,  18 
X-rays,  what  are  they?  307 
Yankee,  where  word  originated,  243 
Yarn,  made  from  wool,  86 
Yawning,  why  do,  173 

is  it  infectious,  192 
Yeast,  what  it  is,  288 

why  it  makes  bread  rise,  288 
Yes,  meaning  of  nod,  19 
ZoUner,  Casper,  inventor  of  rifling,  46 


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